Ratan Tata's love for aviation is well known. But not many may know that for his love, Ratan Tata agreed to join the board of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), India's leading defense PSU. "It was a rare instance when he agreed to be on the board of a company outside the Tata group, recalls S Ravi, the former Chairman of BSE and the then board member of HAL with Ratan Tata.
"Mr Tata was an imposing personality yet a truly democratic leader who never brushed aside ideas and got unanimity on views. There was an air about him and everybody felt his aura. But he slogged harder than all of us on the board and came up with a slew of suggestions to make HAL's Bangalore Air Show a global spectacle. Everybody respected and admired him but he did not boss over," says Ravi.
Ratan Tata was among the few private corporate honcho's to be appointed on a PSU company board, when the guidelines for independent directors came. Before that, mostly government Babus were roped-in.
Tata was a licensed pilot and Ravi recalls that in 2007, at the age of 69, he had flown the F-16 fighter jet at the Bangalore Air Show of HAL. This feat had made him the oldest Indian to fly a F-16. He used to fly as a pilot till his health allowed. In 2013, when Tata Group entered into a joint venture with AirAsia, Ratan Tata flew the first flight from Delhi to Mumbai carrying the AirAsia head.
"Mr Tata's technical know-how of the aircraft, be it a fighter jet or a commercial plane, were just awe inspiring. When HAL was looking for joint ventures, Tata's knowledge and views were immensely helpful and proved transformative for the company. Later, the board started depending on him for technical inputs in the face of any big project to be undertaken" recalls Ravi, without going into the specifics, since HAL is defense manufacturer.
Before Ratan Tata, JRD Tata was known as the father of India's civil aviation industry and was issued the first pilot license during the British Raj on February 10, 1929. JDR founded Air India, a hugely profitable airline, which the then Nehru government nationalised in 1953 and took it away from the Tata group. Then, the Tata Group was paid Rs 2.8 crore by the government for Air India's 100 percent stake. Around 70 years later in January 2022, when Ratan Tata brought back Air India's stake from the government, it was reeling under a heavy debt burden of Rs 61,562 crore. Tata Group agreed to take over Rs 15,300 crore worth of that debt while the rest was transferred to a special purpose vehicle.
"It was a bold decision to acquire a heavily debt laden airline, which not many corporations would want to do. But then we had seen the glimpse of such decision making prowess of Mr Tata on the HAL board," says Ravi. Tata passed away at the age of 86 in Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital on October 9, leaving behind a $165 billion revenue generating conglomerate.
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