Tata Group

The Tata Group has donated a Rs. 220 crore ($50 million) to the prestigious Harvard Business School (HBS) to build an academic and a residential building on the institute’s campus in Boston, Massachusetts. The new building will be called the Tata Hall and used for the institute’s executive education programmes. The amount is the largest from an international donor in the business school's 102-year-old existence.

The recent The Brand Trust Report, 2011 has ranked TATA as the second most trusted brands of India.

In a 2011 investor poll conducted by equity research firm Equitymaster, TATA Group was voted as the most trustworthy among the Indian corporate houses. Over 61% of the respondents "showed their confidence in the Tata Group". The Tata Group retained its "Most Trustworthy" status in the 2012 edition of the poll.

One Tata project that brought together Tata Group companies (TCS, Titan Industries and Tata Chemicals) was developing a compact, in-home water-purification device. It was called Tata swach which means “clean” in Hindi and would cost less than 1000 rupees (US $21). The idea of Tata swach was thought of from the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which left thousands of people without clean drinking water. This device has filters that last about a year long for a family of five. It is a low-cost product available for people who have no access to safe drinking water in their homes. The advantage of this device is that it does not require the use of electricity.

TCS also designed and donated an innovative software package that teaches illiterate adults how to read in 40 hours. “The children of the people who have been through our literacy program are all in school,” says Pankaj Baliga, global head of corporate social responsibility for TCS.

In 1912, Tata Group expanded their CEO’s concept of community philanthropy to be included in the workplace. They instituted an eight-hour workday, before any other company in the world. In 1917, they recommended a medical-services policy for Tata employees. The company would be among the first worldwide to organise modern pension systems, workers’ compensation, maternity benefits, and profit-sharing plans.

Trusts created by Tata Group control 65.8% of company shares, so it can be said that about 66% of the profits of Tata Group go to charity. The charitable trusts of Tata Group fund a variety of projects, for example the Tata Swach and the TCS project. They founded and still support such cherished institutions as the Indian Institute of Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Tata Memorial Hospital. Each Tata Group company channels more than 4 percent of its operating income to the trusts and every generation of Tata family members has left a larger portion of its profit to them.

After the Mumbai attacks, Salaries of then heavily attacked Taj Hotel employees were paid despite the hotel being closed for reconstruction. About 1600 employees were provided food, water, sanitation and first aid through employee outreach centres. Ratan Tata personally visited families of all the employees that were affected. The employee’s relatives were flown to Mumbai from outside areas and were all accommodated for 3 weeks. Tata also covered compensation for railway employees, police staff, and pedestrians. The market vendors and shop owners were given care and assistance after the attacks. A psychiatric institution was established with the Tata Group of Social Science to counsel those who were affected from the attacks and needed help. Tata also granted the education of 46 children of the victims of the terrorist attacks.