The market capitalization of the Tata Group is presently the highest in India, standing close to Rs 4.25 lakh crore, overtaking that of the companies of the Ambani brothers which was estimated at Rs 3.67 lakh crore, as per The Financial Express, June 20, 2011. "The wealth created by the Tata firms for shareholders over the past year or so has increased by approximately rupees one lakh crore, thanks to good performances by Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Tata Steel,” the paper notes.
The biggest defense contract ever awarded to an Indian private sector company through a global tender was won by Tata Power’s Strategic Electronics Division. The Rs 1,094 crore contract with the ministry of defence involves the modernization of 30 IAF (Indian Air Force) bases across India. The project, officially called Modernization of Airfield Infrastructure, is to be completed in a time frame of 42 months, as per Business India, May 1.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) inaugurated its first JLR assembly plant in India near Poona at the end of May. It will assemble Land Rover Freelander2 SUVs (sports utility vehicles) imported in completely knocked down kits from JLR’s Halewood manufacturing plant at Liverpool in the UK. JLR recorded annual profits exceeding GBP one billion, marking a great turnaround for the luxury brand, as per reports in the British press. In the first 10 months of the Tata takeover three years ago, the company showed a loss of GBP 281 million, followed by a gain of GBP 32 million last year, according to the UK’s Sunday Telegraph.
Tata Group head Ratan Tata (above); Top Tata Motors executives at new Jaguar Land Rover assembly plant near Poona (alongside)
In South Africa, Tata Motors opened its assembly plant for trucks and buses at Rosslyn, an industrial area north of the capital Pretoria and will cater to the South African as well as the market in other parts of Africa, as per The Economic Times, July 22, 2011. The Nano meanwhile drove into its first export destination — Sri Lanka and is reportedly doing well in Nepal also. Catering to the common man, Tata Motors introduced in India the Magic Iris (three-four seater passenger carrier, a more comfortable alternative to rattling three-wheelers) and the Ace Zip, a sub-600 kg goods carrier.
More nano news comes in the form of nano village homes, with the Tatas reportedly embarking on a pilot project, building the world’s cheapest (pre-fabricated) houses, priced at 500 euros (about Rs 32,000) each. The area would be around 20 sq meters and the house can be built from scratch in a week, with a kit of parts like doors, windows, roofs made from materials supplied by Tata Steel. Intended for the rural poor, the ‘Euro 500 homes’ would be substantially cheaper than the nano housing rolled out by the Group for urban low income segments some time ago.