Ratan Tata Says No To Bribes

air india plane

Air India plane, by Martin Hartland

In a speech, Ratan Tata said his he did not get into the Indian airline industry because he didn’t want to pay the bribe. Not that the bribe of Rs. 15 crores (Rs. 150,000,000) is insane for a company worth $70 billion USD. I think that is an insane bribe, but Tata said simply that “I just want to go to bed at night, knowing that I haven’t got the airline by paying for it.” This is quite interesting, because the Tata family started civil aviation before they were nationalized as Air India. That airline has since struggled with rats on a plane, midair fistfights between crew and crippling strikes (NYTimes).

Tata is the biggest business in India and in its fifth generation of family leadership under Rajan Tata. His predecessor JRD Tata actually flew the first mail plane in what would become Air India. When Ratan Tata tried to get back in to the aviation business with Singapore Airlines, he was rebuffed by a series of rule changes. He says these came as a result of non-payment of bribes, something JRD Tata was also know for.

The TV I saw (CNN IBN) seems like they’re trying to pin this on a Minister Ibrahim who, admittedly, looked pretty gangster in his aviator sunglasses, talking about how Tata shouldn’t work with foreigners. He has recently threatened suicide should Tata not name the Minister.

What the real story is, I don’t know. I don’t know how you can survive without some sort of bribing in India, and Tata has thrived. Whatever’s happened, Tata’s offhand statement has made him something of a hero, on Twitter at least.

5 Comments

  3. The Tata’s and Sassoons made their money from selling opium in China.

    During the meeting a group of Hong Kong-based merchants, among whom were included Shellim Ezekiel Shellim, “of the firm of David Sassoon, Sons & Co,” and Ruttonjee Dadabhoy Tata, “of the firm Tata & Co.,” presented a petition “for and on behalf of the Opium Importers and wholesale Opium Merchants of the said Colony.”

    David Sassoon (October 1792 – November 7, 1864) was the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829, a Mumbai businessman, and the leader of the Jewish community in Bombay.
    Although David Sassoon did not speak English, he became a naturalized British citizen in 1853. He kept the dress and manners of the Baghdadi Jews, but allowed his sons to adopt English manners. His son, Abdullah changed his name to Albert, moved to England, became a Baronet and married into the Rothschild family. All the Sassoons of Europe are said to be descendants of David Sassoon.
    Sassoon David Sassoon was the grandfather of the poet Siegfried Sassoon and Vidal Sassoon

Comments are closed.