Jaguar and Land Rover: TATA's acquires more of the West

Cheers to the British, and Ratan Tata.

Indian conglomerate Tata brought two iconic British brands, Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motors for an estimated $ 2.3 Billion.

The Times of India in a very paparazzi-ed headlines shouted “Jaguar is now an Indian beast.” Though such acquisitions and mergers are commonplace now in India with it globally integrated economy, one must consider the fact that it is an Indian conglomerate buying British icons that raises such a call for elation. Business Week wondered if fifty years ago Sir Winston Churchill or the Queen could have ever imagined the world would come to that.

And the British, from the linchpins of the imperialist order today stand as the embodiment of how to make Globalization work for you. Bill Clinton in his 1992 Presidential Bid said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” But it’s the British who did the best follow- up on that. Today, Tata itself owns iconic British brands such as Corus, erstwhile British Steel, Tetley and now, Jaguar and Land Rover. Today in London, Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, met fourteen delegates from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which included heads of companies like Ranbaxy, Hindustan motors, Nicholas Piramal and Jet Airways. A lot has changed in the last few years, and by seeing itself as a stakeholder in an Indian economic resurgence, Britain has been one of the prime beneficiaries. Read it here.

And again, what can one say about Ratan Tata. In him is what India can and should be. Growing up in New Delhi, the Tata timeline seems to be dotted along my lifeline. I am not a nationalist or do I take any overt pride in a Rising India, but one must say that every morning I run around Central Park West, and see The Pierre, one of New York’s glitziest brought over by the Tata- controlled Indian Hotels, I cannot feel anything else but my heart flutter.

At the Geneva Motor Show last month, Ratan Tata, the patriarch of the Tata Congolmerate, said, “We are conscious that the brands belong to Britain. These brands will continue to belong to Britain.” That’s humility, Mr. Tata. But you own them now.

Touché to that, and a new India.

For more on TATA and who owns the Vitamin Water you drink, click here.