Ratan N. Tata was appointed Chairman of Tata Sons Limited, the holding company of the Tata Group, in 1991. He is the Chairman of the major Tata companies including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals. Indian Hotels and VSNL. He is also the Chairman of two of the largest private sector promoted philanthropic trusts in India. During his tenure, the Group’s revenues have grown almost five-fold to Rs. 65,424 crores($14.3 bn).
Mr. Tata joined the Tata Group in December 1962. He was assigned to various companies before being appointed Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronic Company Limited(NELCO) in 1971. He was named Chairman of Tata Industries Limited in 1981, where he was responsible for transforming the company into a Group strategy think-tank, and promoter of new ventures in high technology businesses.
He is associated with various organizations in India and abroad, including: the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the International Advisory Boards of Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, J.P. Morgan Chase, the International Investment Council set up by the President of the Republic of South Africa, and the Asia Pacific Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange. Besides, he also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Ford Foundation and the Programme Board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’ India AIDS Initiative, and chairs the Advisory Board of RAND’s Center for Asia Pacific Policy.
Mr. Tata received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from Cornell University in 1962. He worked briefly with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles,  California before returning to India in late 1962. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1975.
The Government of India honoured Mr. Tata with one of its highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan, on Republic Day, January 26, 2000. He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in Business Administration by the Ohio State University and an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.