TATA Timeline

1868	Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata starts a private trading firm, laying the foundation of the Tata Group.

1874	The Central India Spinning, Weaving and Manufacturing Company is set up, marking the Group's entry into textiles.

1902	The Indian Hotels Company is incorporated to set up the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, India's first luxury hotel, which opened in 1903

1907	The Tata Iron and Steel Company (now Tata Steel) is established to set up India's first iron and steel plant in Jamshedpur. The plant started production in 1912.

1910	The first of the three Tata Electric Companies, The Tata Hydro-Electric Power Supply Company, (now Tata Power) is set up.

1911	The Indian Institute of Science is established in Bangalore to serve as a centre for advanced learning.

1912	Tata Steel introduces eight-hour working days, well before such a system was implemented by law in much of the West.

1917	The Tatas enter the consumer goods industry, with the Tata Oil Mills Company being established to make soaps, detergents and cooking oils.

1932	Tata Airlines, a division of Tata Sons, is established, opening up the aviation sector in India.

1939	Tata Chemicals, now the largest producer of soda ash in the country, is established.

1945	Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (renamed Tata Motors in 2003) is established to manufacture locomotive and engineering products. Tata Industries is created for the promotion and development of hi-tech industries

1952	Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, requests the Group to manufacture cosmetics in India, leading to the setting up of Lakme.

1954	India's major marketing, engineering and manufacturing organisation, Voltas, is established.

1962	Tata Finlay (now Tata Tea), one of the largest tea producers, is established. Tata Exports is established. Today the company, renamed Tata International, is one of the leading export houses in India.

1968	Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's first software services company, is established as a division of Tata Sons.

1970	Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company is created to publish educational and technical books. Tata Economic Consultancy Services is set up to provide services in the field of industrial, marketing, statistical and techno-economic research and consultancy.

1984	Titan Industries â€“ a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) â€“ is set up to manufacture watches

1991	Tata Motors rolls out its millionth vehicle. (The two-million mark was reached in 1998 and the third million in 2003.)

1995	Tata Quality Management Services institutes the JRD QV Award, modelled on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Value Award of the United States, laying the foundation of the Tata Business Excellence Model

1996	Tata Teleservices (TTSL) is established to spearhead the Group's foray into the telecom sector.

1998	Tata Indica â€“ India's first indigenously designed and manufactured car â€“ is launched by Tata Motors, spearheading the Group's entry into the passenger car segment.

1999	The new Tata Group corporate mark and logo are launched.

2000	Tata Tea acquires the Tetley Group, UK. This is the first major acquisition of an international brand by an Indian business group.

2001	Tata-AIG â€“ a joint venture between the Tata Group and American International Group Inc (AIG) â€“ marks the Tata re-entry into insurance. (The Group's insurance company, New India Assurance, was nationalised in 1956). The Tata Group Executive Office (GEO) is set up to design and implement change in the Tata Group and to provide long-term direction.

2002	The Tata Group acquires a controlling stake in VSNL, India's leading international telecommunications service provider. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) becomes the first Indian software company to cross one billion dollars in revenues. Titan launches Edge, the slimmest watch in the world. Idea Cellular, the cellular service born of a tie-up involving the Tata Group, the Birla Group and AT&T, is launched. Tata Indicom, the umbrella brand for telecom services from the Tata Teleservices stable, starts operations

2003	Tata Motors launches CityRover â€“ Indicas fashioned for the European market. The first batch of CityRovers rolled out from the Tata Motors stable in Pune on September 16, 2003.

2004	Tata Motors acquires the heavy vehicles unit of Daewoo Motors, South Korea. TCS goes public in July 2004 in the largest private sector initial public offering (IPO) in the Indian market, raising nearly $1.2 billlion.

2005	Tata Steel acquires Singapore-based steel company NatSteel by subscribing to 100 per cent equity of its subsidiary, NatSteel Asia. VSNL acquired Tyco Global Network, making it one of the world's largest providers of submarine cable bandwidth.