Amongst my most cherished possessions is a letter from Ratan Tata in 2010, appreciating our efforts on improving public healthcare infrastructure for children in Assam. His endorsement became the foundation of our relationship and we collaborated over the next 14 years in several ways to transform Assam.
I was then Assam’s health minister and we connected through Operation Smile. The Tata Trust was leading this medical mission to provide life-changing cleft lip and palate surgeries to fix facial deformities. Ratan Tata suggested that the Assam government provide a matching grant to scale up this endeavour. We readily agreed and the project turned out to be a huge success.
That was my first glimpse into Ratan Tata’s unwavering dedication towards improving healthcare. Six years later, when I got another opportunity to serve as Assam’s health minister, I travelled to Mumbai to seek Ratan Tata’s counsel in anticipation of channelling his commitment towards a concrete solution for the people of the state.
In that meeting, he laid out his vision of a path-breaking cancer care model that did not rest simply on constructing grandiose hospitals. It involved building an ecosystem ranging from early detection to outreach, all aimed towards one end goal: No cancer patient must leave Assam for want of treatment.
Today, this blueprint is manifesting itself as the Assam Cancer Care Grid, a network of 17 cancer care hospitals in the state. With Rs 3,500 crore investment, of which Rs 1,180 crore was made by the Tata Group and the rest by the government, over 3 lakh people have availed the best of cancer care at nominal prices in their home state.
Ratan Tata has also left an indelible mark in Assam’s quest to emerge as a tourism and technology hub. He was not in the pursuit of monetising Assam’s natural resources but was deeply invested in nurturing our human resources. This is what distinguished him from other business leaders.
In 2008, Tata Consultancy Services opened its first learning centre in IIT Guwahati. In 2010, he personally laid the foundation stone of Assam’s first five-star hotel — the Guwahati Vivanta — and a new local campus for the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. These initiatives, launched when Assam was fighting insurgency, speak of Ratan Tata’s foresight and courage.
His Dibrugarh speech in 2022 was a pivotal moment in his association with Assam and will be remembered by generations to come. He had come to Dibrugarh to inaugurate seven cancer hospitals along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Noel Tata. In that poignant speech, he said he would dedicate his “last years to healthcare in Assam” and would help make “Assam a state that is recognised by all”.
One of the striking attributes of Ratan Tata is that he remained true to his words. When I went to Mumbai to personally confer him with Assam’s highest civilian award — Assam Baibhav — he instructed N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, that the group must do something “very significant” for Assam. Assam was indeed “recognised by all” when the Tata Group decided to invest Rs 27,000 crore in the Jagiroad Semiconductor facility, which aims to manufacture 48 million chips every day for Bharat. This upcoming plant, of which Ratan Tata was the driving force, will propel Assam into a major technological hub and marks the most significant private sector investment in the entire Northeast India, post-Independence.
When we performed the bhumi pujan of the Jagiroad plant, Ratan Tata was unable to attend due to his health. Nonetheless, I visited him at his modest Colaba house to convey Assam’s gratitude. During our meeting, he received a detailed update from Chandrasekaran on the progress of the semiconductor facility and its potential to create jobs.
I was simply struck by his steadfast commitment to Assam.
Ratan Tata didn’t hail from Assam but was more than a son for the state. I can vouch for the fact that, at times, Assam’s welfare stood above the profitability of his own enterprise, and this is what endeared him to the people. One such instance was when Tata Tea was on the verge of selling its tea gardens in Assam, owned by Amalgamated Plantations. This potential change in ownership had caused anxiety amongst my family members from the tea garden community who had an emotional attachment with the Tata Group. I requested Ratan Tata to reconsider this sale. A few days later, he telephoned me and conveyed his standing instruction to the group, that even if Tata’s faced financial losses, they were not to divest their tea gardens.
Investing in people has been at the heart of Ratan Tata’s leadership philosophy. Another such decision was the Tata Group Rs 2,390 crore investment in 77 polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes (ITI’s) across Assam in 2022 to upgrade them as Centres of Excellence and create a pool of skilled workforce in the state.
For many, including me, Ratan Tata’s life is an inspiration and holds valuable lessons. His courage to invest beyond traditional comfort zones and redirect the frontiers of opportunity towards the neglected areas of Bharat, places him as one of the finest nation builders of all times.
Assam government’s greatest tribute to his legacy will be to ensure all his initiatives in the state reach fruition and maximise public good. I will do everything it takes to bring it to effect.
The Assam Baibhav award recognised Ratan Tata’s relentless contribution to Assam’s development. Since he couldn’t come to Guwahati for the formal ceremony, we decided to honour him in Mumbai. With moist eyes, he accepted this blessing from the people of Assam and told me that till his last breath he will continue to work for our state. These words turned out to be prophetic. There will never be another Ratan Tata and the void he has left will be impossible to fill.
The writer is chief minister of Assam
