True Grit: The phenomenal growth of the Indian entrepreneurial spirit
From JRD Tata to Dhirubhai Ambani and Sanjeev Bikhchandani, how entrepreneurs helped India through its transition from an agrarian economy to state-controlled industry and on to an era where unicorns have taken the centrestage
By: Madhu Kapparath
In 1948, JRD Tata launched Air India International, the country’s first international airline. Under his guidance, the Sir Dorabji Dadabhoy Trust established Asia’s first cancer hospital and the Tata Memorial Center for Cancer, Research and Treatment. It founded the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the National Centre for Performing Arts. In 1956, he initiated a programme to give workers a stronger voice in the affairs of the company. He espoused an eight-hour working day, free medical aid, workers’ provident scheme and accident compensations, later adopted as statutory requirements in India.
