Background
About Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata
Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, commonly referred to as RD Tata, was an Indian businessman and an important early partner in the enterprises that developed into the Tata group. He was a relative of Jamsetji Tata and later became the father of JRD Tata, who would lead the Tata group for more than five decades.
Early business career
RD Tata was born in 1856 and studied in Bombay, including at Elphinstone College. He subsequently worked in the Far East, where he gained experience managing trading activities. Tata's historical account states that his handling of business and finances impressed Jamsetji Tata, who brought him into his businesses as a partner while RD was still a relatively young businessman.
RD became closely involved in the Tata family's commercial operations and was associated with its international trading activities. These businesses connected India with markets in East Asia and other parts of the world at a time when international trading operations formed an important part of the Tata enterprise.
Tata & Sons and industrial expansion
When Tata & Sons was organised as the parent business, RD Tata became one of its early founding directors alongside members of Jamsetji Tata's immediate family. Tata's historical material identifies him as an important participant in the organisation that preceded the present Tata Sons company. He later served as a director of Tata Sons after the business was incorporated as a private company in 1917.
RD also contributed to the Tata group's emerging industrial businesses. He worked alongside Dorabji Tata on the development of the steel venture conceived by Jamsetji. Tata Iron and Steel Company was established after Jamsetji's death and developed into one of the group's most important industrial enterprises.
RD Tata died in 1926. His son Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, better known as JRD Tata, joined the Tata Sons board that year following his father's death and eventually became chairman of the group in 1938. RD's significance therefore lies both in his role in Tata's early business organisation and in helping establish the corporate structure inherited by the next generation of Tata leadership.