PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, Aug 30: Tata Steel and its other subsidiary companies on Monday remembered Naval Hormusji Tata the former director of Tata Sons.
He was born on August 30, 1904, in Mumbai. His father died when he was only four years old.
Naval Tata was adopted by Lady Navajbai Tata, wife of Sir Ratan Tata, when he died, and a son was needed to perform the Uthamna ceremony.
Naval Tata was only thirteen when he was adopted.
Naval Tata graduated from the Bombay University in Economics and studied Accountancy in London. He joined the Tata Group in 1930. In 1939 and became the joint managing director of the Tata Mills.
On February 1, 1941, he became the director of Tata Sons Ltd. He took over as managing director of Tata Oil Mills Co. Ltd. in 1948.
He was also made the chairman of Tata Mills in 1947.
He contributed to sports and held senior offices in social, educational and welfare work. He worked closely with the Indian Institute of Science, Bombay State Social Welfare Council, Swadeshi League and National Safety Council.
He was the chairman of the Indian Cancer Society, president of the Auxiliary Forces Welfare Association, and trustee of several philanthropic trusts. He was the president of the Indian Hockey Federation for 15 years.
Naval Tata was awarded the Padma Bhushan on January 26, 1969. The same year he was given recognition for his role in industrial peace and was awarded the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal.
He received life membership of the National Institute of Personnel Management. He died due to cancer on May 5, 1989, in Mumbai.
Established in 2018, the state-of-the-art Naval Tata Hockey Academy in Jamshedpur is named after Naval Tata for his contributions to the development of hockey in India.
The Academy is a partnership between Tata Trusts, Tata Steel, and the One Million Hockey Legs Programme of the Bovelander Academy, Netherlands.
