Ratan Tata Quotes

One hundred years from now, I expect the Tatas to be much bigger than it is now. More importantly, I hope the Group comes to be regarded as being the best in India.. best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver, and best in our value systems and ethics. Having said that, I hope that a hundred years from now we will spread our wings far beyond India.

Flying, I continue to be involved with. I love flying, and I hope to keep doing it so long as I can pass my medicals and stay proficient.

I have two or three cars that I like, but today, Ferrari would be the best car I have driven in terms of being an impressive car.

The country is now universally recognised as a nation on the move and takes its place amongst the successful economies in the region. The future potential is enormous but the country's destiny is in our hands. The time has come to move from small increments to bold, large initiatives. The time has come to stretch the envelope and set goals which were earlier not seen to be possible. The time has come for performance to be measured and for allocated funds of the government to reach the people for whom they were intended.

What are the crumple zones on scooters? The helmet is the only crumple zone I can think of.

Fiat has assembly plants in Brazil and Argentina.

I would say that one of the things I wish I could do differently would be to be more outgoing.

If there are challenges thrown across, then some interesting, innovative solutions are found. Without challenges, the tendency is to go on the same way.

If we dispense with some of our self-made boundaries, India can really take its place in the world as an economic power. It hasn't happened because we, sadly, don't look at ourselves as Indians but as Punjabis or Parsis, unlike the Americans. Don't make such boundaries.

I do not know how history will judge me, but let me say that I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to transform the Tatas from a patriarchal concern to an institutional enterprise. It would, therefore, be a mark of failure on my part if it were perceived that Ratan Tata epitomises the Group's success. What I have done is establish growth mechanisms, play down individuals and play up the team that has made the companies what they are. I, for one, am not the kind who loves dwelling on the 'I'. If history remembers me at all, I hope it will be for this transformation.

We like to say that India has the advantage of being a large market. We have provinces, we have the rule of law, we have a system of justice. But those are also weaknesses when compared with China. On the other hand, one of our strengths is that we are very individualistic, and as individuals we are very creative. But that, too, is a weakness, because it keeps us from working well together. Everyone thinks only about his own profit.

There has not been a conscious view of re-energising manufacturing. So, in some form, someone has to wave the Union Jack in the area of manufacturing.

I came seriously close to getting married four times, and each time I backed off in fear or for one reason or another. Each occasion was different, but in hindsight when I look at the people involved, it wasn't a bad thing what I did. I think it may have been more complex had the marriage taken place.

I will certainly not join politics. I would like to be remembered as a clean businessman who has not partaken in any twists and turns beneath the surface, and one who has been reasonably successful.

I probably have everything that Apple has made and everything Bose has made; I am very loyal to certain brands.

I have been constantly telling people to encourage people, to question the unquestioned and not to be ashamed to bring up new ideas, new processes to get things done.

I am in favour of disinvestment. But if a disinvested company has to tie up with a government company for its livelihood, there is a problem.

I've never believed protectionism of that kind will lead us anywhere. I think you can have certain specific rules for engaging with India.. for example, not allowing mineral resources to be taken out of the country.. but there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that when you open an economy you should do it in totality. Foreign investment adds a sense of competition; we should see this as a wake-up call to modernise and upgrade. Companies that do not will undoubtedly die.

Banana republics are run on cronyism.

The government should do its job. The government's job is, in fact, to run the country, to manage the country, to govern the country. And governance is an important thing, not application where it suits one so, to micro control where it suits them on the other hand.

India has probably lost its position to China as the world's workshop. At the same time it has the power to be ahead of China when it comes to knowledge. Not that the Chinese are far behind. They will get there. But our challenge is to invest sufficiently in education.

When you see in places like Africa and parts of Asia abject poverty, hungry children and malnutrition around you, and you look at yourself as being people who have well being and comforts, I think it takes a very insensitive, tough person not to feel they need to do something.

A founder who is in for the short run, or has no passion for the sector he is in, doesn't give me a great deal of comfort.

There are many things that, if I have to relive, maybe I will do it another way. But I would not like to look back and think what I have not been able to.

None can destroy iron, but its own rust can! Likewise none can destroy a person, but its own mindset can!

Some foreign investors accuse us of being unfair to shareholders by using our resources for community development. Yes, this is money that could have made for dividend payouts, but it also is money that's uplifting and improving the quality of life of people in the rural areas where we operate and work. We owe them that.

The economic situation, the high cost of undertaking manufacturing, the supply chain - which is, by the way, dying out also as manufacturing undergoes hardship - make the U.K. not the first place you would look at to make a manufacturing investment.

We're responsible for the fortunes of the company but this is a bone-dry situation in terms of access to credit. Nobody can operate on that basis unless you have large cash balances, which we don't. My concern is that the government doesn't appear to care about manufacturing.

Power and wealth are not two of my main stakes.

New startups embody the creativity, the innovation of young people, and for me, it was and is a very worthwhile experience to interact with them.

One of the weaknesses of Indian industry is that in many areas.. like consumer goods.. it is very fragmented. Individually, the companies might not be able to survive. What is needed is a consortium of like companies in one industry, presenting a strong front to the multinationals. The Swiss watch industry did this.

I don't believe in taking right decisions. I take decisions and then make them right.

The political system of the People's Republic of China can make things easy. Decisions are made quickly and results come quickly, too. In our democracy [in India], on the other hand, such things are extremely difficult.

The strong live and the weak die. There is some bloodshed, and out of it emerges a much leaner industry, which tends to survive.

At Tatas, we believe that if we are not among the top three in an industry, we should look seriously at what it would take to become one of the top three players.. or think about exiting the industry

Challenges need to be given to an organization.

I would say that I'm blessed with a very, very good executive team that operates, reasonably autonomously, each of the companies.

After I retired, it seemed to me that there was a whole new world out there, which was a digital world driven by a marketplace, basically, which had a huge potential driven by handheld devices, which would one day become the virtual retail store of India.

I always felt that Nano should have been marketed towards the owner of a two-wheeler because it was conceived giving the people who rode on two wheels with the whole family an all-weather safe form of affordable transportation, not the cheapest.

I admire people who are very successful. But if that success has been achieved through too much ruthlessness, then I may admire that person, but I can't respect him.

People of great power wield great power, but people of lesser power or people who have fallen out of power go to jail without adequate evidence, or their bodies are found in the trunks of cars.

I am interested in what I earn; I am interested in my growth.

We live in a highly competitive world - and we Indians have to struggle to catch up. So modesty is necessary, even if there is also a need for a certain amount of national pride. When it comes down to it, we have managed our country's economy poorly for long enough. There is really no reason to now think that we can conquer the world.

IT and the entire communications business clearly have the greatest potential for growth. But if you're talking about sheer size, the steel and auto industries will remain at the top.

I have always been very confident and very upbeat about the future potential of India. I think it is a great country with great potential.

If it stands the test of public scrutiny, do it ... if it doesn't stand the test of public scrutiny then don't do it.

I think there are many honest businessmen.

Apart from values and ethics which I have tried to live by, the legacy I would like to leave behind is a very simple one - that I have always stood up for what I consider to be the right thing, and I have tried to be as fair and equitable as I could be.

I have also made this a point in our company: We need to stop taking baby steps and start thinking globally. It really seems to be helping.

Indian car buyers have not really been exposed to customer care in a competitive environment.

Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going, because a straight line even in an ECG means we are not alive

The day I am not able to fly will be a sad day for me.

When you have to earmark human and monetary resources for such a long time, it starts to hinder your other activities.