Jamshed J Irani: The Steel Man of India passes away

Jamshed J Irani, known as the steel man of India, passed away late Monday night at Jamshedpur.

Irani was associated with Tata Steel for over four decades and retired from the board of Tata Steel in June 2011, leaving behind a legacy of 43 years.

Born on June 02, 1936 in Nagpur to Jiji Irani and Khorshed Irani, JJ Irani completed his Bachelor of Science from Science College in the city in 1956 and Master of Science in Geology from the Nagpur University in 1958.

He then went to the University of Sheffield in the UK as a JN Tata scholar where he secured a Masters in Metallurgy in 1960 and a PhD in Metallurgy in 1963.

Irani is survived by his wife Daisy Irani and three children—Zubin, Niloufer and Tanaaz.

He started his professional career with the British Iron and Steel Research Association in Sheffield in 1963 but always yearned to contribute to the Nation’s progress and returned to India to join the then The Tata Iron and Steel Company (now Tata Steel) in 1968 as an Assistant to the Director in-charge of Research and Development.

He went on to become General Superintendent in 1978, General Manager in 1979, and President of Tata Steel in 1985. He became the Joint Managing Director of Tata Steel in 1988, Managing Director in 1992 before retiring in 2001.

He joined the board of Tata Steel in 1981 and was also a Non-Executive Director from 2001 for a decade.

Besides Tata Steel and Tata Sons, Irani served as a Director of several Tata Group companies, including Tata Motors and Tata Teleservices.

He was the National President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 1992-93.

He was conferred several honours, including his appointment as International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1996 and an Honorary Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for his contributions to Indo-British Trade and Co-operation.

Jamshed J Irani with the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee at an event in Lucknow in November 2012 | Photo Credit: RAMESH SHARMA

In 2004, the Centre appointed Irani as the Chairman of Expert Committee for formation of the new Companies Act of India.

He was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2007 for his contribution to the industry. He was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Government of India in 2008 as acknowledgement to his services in the area of metallurgy.

He enabled Tata Steel to reinvent itself with a focus on quality and customer satisfaction, while becoming the lowest-cost steel producer in the world with quality that could compete in the international market.

He was instrumental in starting the Tata Education Excellence Program in 2003 to improve the quality of academic facilitation through a calibrated approach adopted from the renowned Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence criteria.

He was a keen sportsman who played and followed cricket till his last and had a passion for stamp and coin collection.

His love for the city of Jamshedpur has led to several key developments that will continue to benefit its citizens.

“Dr JJ Irani was a quintessential Tata man. He was a towering corporate personality whose contribution to the steel industry was immense. Dr Irani will be deeply missed by all of us at Tata Group and we pray for his departed soul,” N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, said.

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