Former Tata Steel chief Russi Mody passes away at 96

Mody was tipped to be a contender to head Tata group, but was ousted when Ratan Tata took over and a boardroom tussle ensued

Russi Mody, former chairman and managing director of Tata Steel, died Friday night in Kolkata after a prolonged illness. He was 96.

Mody joined Tata Steel in 1939 and climbed steadily up the ladder from a shop floor trainee at Jamshedpur Steel Works to chairman and managing director. A man-manager par excellence, Tata Steel today remembered Mody's famous saying, "What is man management? That one must behave naturally with any human being."

Mody had a patrician lineage --son of Sir Homi Mody, who happened to be the governor of Bombay Presidency and UP, and a member of the Indian Legislative Assembly. He was educated at the English public school of Harrow and later at Christ Church, Oxford.

At Tata Steel, Mody, went on to become more than just the executive head of Tata Steel; he was tipped to be one of the contenders to head the Tata group. But when JRD Tata passed the baton to nephew, Ratan Tata, a boardroom tussle followed, engineered by Mody, which ultimately led to his ouster in 1993. His settlement included a bungalow in upmarket Belvedere Road (which he later bought from Tata Steel), a Land Rover and a Mercedes.

The famous acrimony, which has gone down in the books of business history, was buried some years back by none other than Ratan Tata. He announced the truce to Tata Tea shareholders at the company's annual general meeting.

" One of you asked about my meeting Mr Mody at the lobby of the hotel, Mr Mody and I have become friends again many years ago. There is no need to do it publicly. He and I have buried our differences. And we continue to share friendship at this point of time…may be not to the extent that used to be exist in the past, but there is no animosity or acrimony at this point of time," Tata had said in 2012.

Tata today said, "Russi Mody was an institution at Tata Steel. Under his leadership Tata Steel grew significantly and he instituted many human resource initiatives. He was regarded and respected by the work force throughout his tenure. He lived a full and energetic life and will always be remembered by his friends."

Tata group chairman, Cyrus Mistry, Tata Steel Vice Chairman, B Muthuraman, former managing director, Tata Steel, J J Irani, Tata Steel Managing Director, T V Narendran, mourned his death, as well.

After his exit from Tata Steel, Mody went on to set up a trading house with a handful of ex-Tata Steel officials, including his protégé, Aditya Kashyap, in late 1993.    

In 1994, he was appointed joint chairman of Air India and Indian Airlines. The irrepressible Modi, however, got into regular run-ins with politicians and bureaucrats over day-to-day management of the airlines. He resigned two years later. Mody then turned his focus on Mobar, which was wound up in 2007, after Kashyap's death.

Friends remember Mody as a lively host who loved his Hawaiian print bush-shirts.