Tata - An Integral Part Of Indian Life

Before reading this article, you should be aware that we drive a Tata Car, drink Tata (Tetley) Tea, and watch Tata Sky Television. It is another indication of how fast the Indian economy continues to grow. (thanks to Adam for pointing out this article)
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"We also make steel."

This was the triumphant punch line of a happy Tata Steel television commercial not very long ago.

The commercial wasn't wide of the mark.

If you wake up in India, you are likely to sip Tata tea, make early morning calls on your Tata mobile phone and take a Tata sedan to work. There is a good chance that you will be wearing a Tata watch or shoes sold by Tata as well. Back home, you may be leaving your wife and children surfing more than 100 channels on the local direct-to-home television system launched by Tata along with Star.

Your children may work in any of the Tata companies which already employ nearly 250,000 people or opt for higher studies at a science or social sciences school run by the Tatas. If you fall ill, you might head to the nearest Tata hospital.

If you are growing up in India, the smoke-belching Tata buses and trucks are among the first vehicles you will ever see in the cities and countryside. Two years ago, the oil-epic Syriana starring George Clooney opened with a shot of oil workers struggling to get into an overloaded Tata bus.

There is no other Indian business conglomerate which quite dominates the lives of middle-class Indians the way Tata Group does with its 96 companies, seven business divisions. Its turnover of $21.9bn, unsurprisingly, equals nearly 3% of India's gross domestic product (GDP).

There is also no other Indian company which straddles the new and old economy with equal ease - the group owns the country's largest integrated steel company with a 100-year-old flagship plant, and Asia's largest software company, which is also one of the biggest employers in the country.

Now that Tata Steel has won a tense takeover battle for Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus, with a bid of £5.75bn ($11.3bn), the group seems finally ready to flex its considerable muscles on the international stage.

In recent years, under Ratan Tata, the Tatas have become hungrier.

Last year the group set up a new drug discovery centre, signed deals to launch hotels in Qatar and build a new undersea submarine cable linking India, the Middle East and Western Europe. It also entered China with its software company in collaboration with the Chinese government and Microsoft.

The group bought a stake, too, in an international vitamin water company, sold its four-millionth vehicle in India, bought hotels in Boston, plotted a coffee plant in Uganda and entered the promising direct-to-home television market in India.

For the moment few companies in India or Asia can match Tata for the range of goods and services it offers.