Kolkata: Former chairman and managing director of Tata Steel Russi Mody, who was known for his flamboyance, died at his home here on Friday night. Russi Mody, who always considered himself a “Tatas man”, passed away at his Alipore home in Kolkata. He was 96. He had been suffering from age-related illness. Russi Mody held important positions in the Tata Group and led Tata Steel till he retired in the early 1990s.
He was once considered a contender to head the Tata Group before Ratan Tata took charge. Later, he held various advisory positions both in the group and outside, with a notable stint as chairman of the erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India. Unlike his corporate innings, he had a brief political innings, contesting from Jamshedpur, his second home, unsuccessfully.
The high-profile former CMD Tata Steel, who spent more than 50 years with the Tatas, was at one point of time reported to have had differences with Mr Ratan Tata on different issues. However, they buried the hatchet. Mody always considered himself a “Tatas man”. He joined the organisation in 1939 at age 21 and retired in 1993 at 75. He was, in fact, hand-picked by and worked with the legendary J.R.D. Tata.
Mody was also a former joint chairman of Air India and the erstwhile Indian Airlines. Born in Mumbai on January 17, 1918, Mody was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1989.
