Book review
What sets the Tatas apart?

When Jamsetji Tata started a trading firm in 1868 few could have guessed that he was also opening an important chapter in the making of modern India. Jamsetji saw that the three keys to India's industrial development were steel, hydroelectric power, and technical education and research. A century and a half later, the Tatas can claim with justice to have lived up to the vision of their founder.

But the road to success has never been smooth. Appearing for the first time in this edition is the story of how the Tatas, with Ratan Tata at the helm, have had to grapple with change in the post-1992 era of economic reforms. In a frank afterword Ratan Tata talks about the difficulties he faced in implementing change, including resistance from his colleagues.

The Creation of Wealth is R.M. Lala's best-selling account of how the Tatas have been at the forefront in the making of the Indian nation—not just by their phenomenal achievements as industrialists and entrepreneurs but also by their signal contributions in the field of social welfare.

Edition: Hardback
Format: Demy | 336 pages
Classification: Non Fiction


About the author Editor, publisher and author, Russi M. Lala began his career as a journalist in 1948, at the age of nineteen. Shortly after this, he became an executive in a book publishing house. In 1959 he became the manager of the first Indian book publishing house in London and in 1964 he founded (with Rajmohan Gandhi) the newsweekly Himmat, which he edited for a decade. He published his first book, The Creation of Wealth: The Tata Story, to critical and commercial acclaim in 1981. This was followed by Encounters with the Eminent (1981); The Heartbeat of a Trust (1984); In Search of Leadership (1986); Beyond the Last Blue Mountain: A Life of J.R.D. Tata (1992); The Joy of Achievement: Conversations with J.R.D. Tata (1995) and Celebration of the Cells: Letters from a Cancer Survivor (1999). He has also edited, with S.A. Sabavala, a book of J.R.D. Tata’s speeches, Keynote (1986). R.M. Lala’s books have been translated into other languages including Japanese. He has been director of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust since 1985, and is the co-founder of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy, and since 1993, its chairman.