When the Jaguar Leaps
Outlook|November 01, 2024
Tata's impeccable track record of minimalist intervention in foreign acquisitions suffered a bit when It came to its largest purchase—Corus
George P. J.
When the Jaguar Leaps
  • APPOINTED TATA SONS CHAIRMAN IN 1991, RATAN TATA’S STRATEGY IN THE LATE 90S FOCUSED ON ACQUIRING COMPANIES THAT COULD HELP TATA ENTER HIGHER-MARGIN MARKETS, ESPECIALLY INTERNATIONALLY.

ON September 30, the last of the blast furnaces at the Port Talbot steel mill was shut down. With that, a Wales town that has lived and breathed steel production since 1902 stepped into the unknown. About 2,800 jobs will be lost in this southern coastal town as the plant replaces the blast furnaces with arc reactors. For Britain, it also spells the end of an era going back to the Industrial Revolution as it loses its ability to produce primary steel-the incoming electric arc reactors will only be able to reprocess scrap metal.

At the heart of all these regional and national changes in the UK is a familiar nameTata Steel-and a story of global expansion driven by one man.

Go Forth and Acquire In the 1980s and 1990s, suspicions about foreign ownership were still very much in the air in India. It had been only a few years since George Fernandes, Industries Minister in the Janata Party government, had thrown Coca-Cola and IBM out of the country. For companies wanting to enter the Indian market, one available route was joint ventures (JVs). With regulatory restrictions in India against 100 per cent foreign ownership, Tata became a favoured local partner for many companies, including for IBM to re-enter the market and for Pepsi to try its luck where Coke had burnt its fingers. These JVs not only brought in foreign brands to India but also gave Tata exposure to new products and technologies, providing them an edge over domestic competition.

この記事は Outlook の November 01, 2024 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Outlook の November 01, 2024 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

OUTLOOKのその他の記事すべて表示
Trump, Up And Charging
Outlook

Trump, Up And Charging

'Many countries are nervous about Donald Trump returning to power, but India is not one of them'

time-read
5 分  |
December 01, 2024
Post and Past the Oil in Azerbaijan
Outlook

Post and Past the Oil in Azerbaijan

As the UN climate conference takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan traces the history of the hydrocarbon industry through the lens of postage stamps

time-read
3 分  |
December 01, 2024
Bhutto's Nehru Story
Outlook

Bhutto's Nehru Story

Nehru's principle of \"compromise and argument\" remains the only workable formula for South Asian leaders

time-read
5 分  |
December 01, 2024
Breathless on Bachchan
Outlook

Breathless on Bachchan

Cédric Dupire's documentary The Real Superstar is an irreverent, experimental archive of Amitabh Bachchan's life and his stardom

time-read
6 分  |
December 01, 2024
The Anaphora to Zeugma of the Queen's English
Outlook

The Anaphora to Zeugma of the Queen's English

Shashi Tharoor's book is a logophile's candy shop, full of fun, surprises and insights

time-read
4 分  |
December 01, 2024
The Wind Knocked
Outlook

The Wind Knocked

THE wind knocked on the door. Hesitantly. Wanting to be let in. It had heard the murmuring of the flames. And knew that there was a fire. The wind sought shelter.

time-read
4 分  |
December 01, 2024
The Way Home
Outlook

The Way Home

“We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection. Something closed must retain our memories, while leaving them their original value as images. Memories of the outside world will never have the same tonality as those of home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams; we are never real historians, but always near poets, and our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost.”—Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space

time-read
6 分  |
December 01, 2024
The War Artist
Outlook

The War Artist

Cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco is in search of the truths distorted by conventional narratives

time-read
5 分  |
December 01, 2024
Mining Adivasi Votes
Outlook

Mining Adivasi Votes

If the BJP manages to win Jharkhand, it will be the third mineral-rich state after Odisha and Chhattisgarh that will fall into the party's kitty

time-read
5 分  |
December 01, 2024
Unequal Republic
Outlook

Unequal Republic

Political parties make promises of equal represention to women, but patriarchy continues to dominate electoral democracy

time-read
4 分  |
December 01, 2024