When JRD Tata Decided To Make Ratan Tata A Successor Of Tata Group

JRD Tata was suffering from heart disease when he decided to hand over the reins of Tata Group to Ratan Tata.

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of one of India's biggest conglomerates, Tata Sons, got the reins of Tata Group in March 1991. Almost three decades ago, in 1997, Ratan Tata appeared on the show ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal' where he revealed how the takeover happened. JRD Tata was suffering from heart disease and was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai when he broke the news and asked Ratan Tata to take over.

“We were in Jamshedpur together for a function and I had to go to Stuttgart for some negotiations. When I came back, I heard he had a heart problem and he was in Breach Candy Hospital. He was there a week and I'd see him every day. He was out on a Friday and the following Monday, I went to see him in the office,” Ratan Tata recalled.

Narrating the incident, he added, “He would always start meeting by asking, ‘Well, what's new?' And I said, ‘J I'd been seeing you every day, there is nothing new since I saw you last.' He said, ‘Well, I have something that is new that I want to tell you. Sit down. What has happened to me in Jamshedpur has made me think that I need to step down and I have decided that you should take my place.' After a few days, he took it to the board.”