Jamshedpur, Aug 27 (PTI) Tata Steel on Thursday paid rich tributes to its first chairman, Dorabji Tata, on his 167th birth anniversary here.
Tata Steel vice president (Corporate Services) D B Sundara Ramam, along with president of Tata Workers Union Sanjeev Kumar Choudhary, paid floral tributes to Dorabji Tata, whose leadership and commitment helped realise the dream of his father, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.
While Tata Steel founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata envisioned a self-reliant India, he passed away before witnessing its realisation. That responsibility fell squarely upon his elder son, Dorabji.
Addressing the gathering, Sundara Ramam said that from championing India’s Olympic aspirations to helping establish India’s first steel plant in 1907, Sir Dorabji Tata’s vision helped shape the nation on and off the field.
Dorabji Tata played a pioneering role by guiding India to the Olympics even before the establishment of an independent Indian Olympic Association (IOA) by funding the Indian contingent’s participation in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. He had been the President of IOA for first seven years since it came into being.
India is now preparing to host 2036 Olympic Games, but in fact, Dorabji Tata had laid its foundation a century ago, Sundara Ramam said.
The company official said Tata Steel continues to nurture India’s sporting talent through its academies and teams.
Dorabji Tata embodied the selfless spirit, transforming uncharted wilderness into nation-building steel mills, founding hospitals for the suffering, laboratories for the curious, and sporting arenas for the dreaming youth.
“Today, Tata Steel continues this legacy across 19 disciplines through 5 world-class sporting academies, high-performance centres, the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, and 16 training and feeder centres spanning grassroots to elite levels,” he said.
Dorabji Tata successfully established India’s premier steel plant at Sakchi—later renamed Jamshedpur by the British after TISCO (now Tata Steel Limited) had supplied 2,90,000 tonnes of steel during World War.
As a mark of honour, Tata Steel set up a replica of the Jubilee Diamond ring made of steel at Dorabji Park here for public view.
To mark the occasion, an exhibition, “Sir Dorabji Tata’s Olympics legacy, a special heritage exhibition” was organised at JRD Tata Sports complex here.
Arjuna awardee Dola Banerjee, sports historian Boria Manumdar and Tata Archery Academy coach-cum-Dronacharya awardee Purnima Mahato participated in the event. PTI BS RG
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.