People
* Tata family, an influential family of India owning the Tata Group o Jamsedji Tata, known as the father of Indian industry o Dorabji Tata, Indian industrialist and philanthropist o J. R. D. Tata, Indian pioneer aviator and founder of Tata Airlines o Ratan Tata, present chairman of the Tata Group o Simone Naval Tata, chairperson of Trent * Jordan Tata, a relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers organization * Tata Young, Thai singer
Educational and Research Institutes
o Tata Institute of Fundamental Research o Tata Institute of Social Sciences o Indian Institute of Science o National Centre for Peforming Arts o Tata Management Training Centre o Tata Memorial Hospital o The JRD Tata Ecotechnology Centre
Companies
* Tata Group, India's second largest business group and multinational company o Tata Communications, also known as Tata VSNL, a communication company acquired in 2001 o Tata Consultancy Services, Asia's largest IT company o Tata Elxsi, another Tata IT company o Tata Motors, world's eighteenth largest automobile company known for its hatchback motor-vehicle Tata Indica and the world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano. o Tata Power, India’s largest private sector electricity generating company o Tata Sky a satellite company in India o Tata Steel, world's fifth largest steel producer o Tata Tea Limited, world's second largest manufacturer and distributor of tea o Tata Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited, the apex holding company of the Tata Group.
Places
* Tata, Hungary, a city in Hungary * Tata, Morocco, an oasis in Morocco * Tata (Middle-earth), one of the first Elves in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Tata Tea Limited
Tata Tea Limited, also known as Tata-Tetley, is the world's second largest manufacturer and distributor of tea . Owned by India's Tata Group, the Tata Tea Limited markets tea under the following major brands — Tata Tea, Tetley, Good Earth Teas and JEMČA.
While Tata Tea is largest tea brand in India, Tetley is the largest tea company in the United Kingdom and Canada and the second largest in the United States by volume and JEMČA is Czech Republic's leading tea company. Tata Tea Limited along with its subsidiary companies manufactures 70 million kilograms of tea in India, has 54 tea estates, 10 tea blending and packaging factories, and employs around 59,000 people.The company owns 51 tea estates in India and Sri Lanka, especially in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. The company is the largest manufacturer of Assam tea and Darjeeling tea and the second-largest manufacturer of Ceylon tea.
HISTORY
Set up in 1964 as a joint venture with UK based James Finlay and Company to develop value-added tea, the Tata Tea Group of Companies, which includes Tata Tea and the UK-based Tetley Group, is the world's second largest global branded tea operation with product and brand presence in 40 countries. It is one of India's first multinational companies, the operations of Tata Tea and its subsidiaries focus on branded product offerings in tea but with a significant presence in plantation activity in India and Sri Lanka.
The consolidated worldwide branded tea business of the Tata Tea Group contributes to around 86 per cent of its consolidated turnover with the remaining 14 per cent coming from Bulk Tea, Coffee, and Investment Income. The company is headquartered in Kolkata and owns 27 tea estates in the states of Assam and West Bengal in eastern India, and Kerala in the south.
The Tetley Group has been a member of the Tata Group since March 2000 and now contributes around two thirds of the total turnover of Tata Tea Ltd. Established in 1837, Tetley was the first British tea company to introduce the tea bag to the UK in 1953. The tea bag was followed by the first round tea bag in 1989, and the 'no drip, no mess' drawstring bag in 1997.
In 1983, Tatas bought the stake belonging to the James Finlay group to form the individual entity Tata Tea. In 1987,Tata set up a fully owned subsidiary, Tata tea Inc. in the USA. In 1991,Tata tea acquired 52.5% of the shares of the Consolidated Coffee Ltd to form Tata Coffee Ltd. In 1992, they enetered into a joint venture in Sri Lanka to form Estate Management Services (P)Ltd. In 1993, they entered into a joint venture with Allied Lyons PLC in the UK to form Estate Tata Tetley. In 1995,Tata tea attempted to buy Tetley tea of the UK. In 1995-96, the Lankan JVC acquired 51% shareholding in Watawala Plantations Ltd. In 2000,Tata tea acquired The Tetley Group Ltd., UK. In 2005,Tata tea decided to sell the Munnar Estate to its workers. Employee cost (of the standalone entity) dropped sharply by about 40 per cent.) They acquired the Good Earth Teas brand, which has a significant presence in the American specialty market. In 2006, they entered into an agreement to take over Jemca, which controls a 26 percent market share in the Czech Republic.
Tata Tea owns five brands in India - Tata Tea, Tetley, Kanan Devan, Chakra Gold and Gemini. The company has a 100% export-oriented unit (KOSHER & HACCP certified) manufacturing Instant Tea in Munnar, Kerala, which is the largest such facility outside the United States. Tata Tea has subsidiaries in Australia, Great Britain, United States, Czech Republic and India.
1980s – Moving up the value chain
In the early 1980s, the tea industry in India was experiencing rising input and labor costs and dwindling margins as well as high taxes. India was facing competition on the world market not just from China, but other countries entering the business.
In 1983, Tata tea decided to move from the commodities business to consumer branding. The first brand Tata tea was introduced. This was followed by other brands like Kannan Devan, Agni, Gemini, and Chakra Gold. In spite of being the largest market in the world, the concept of branded tea took time to be accepted.
1990s – Exporting Branded tea
In the 1990s Tata decided to take its brands into the global markets. It formed an export joint venture with Britain's Tetley tea in 1992. Other new enterprises included a majority interest in Consolidated Coffee Ltd. (Tata Coffee Ltd.) and a joint venture to manage agricultural estates in Sri Lanka. Tata Tea Inc. in the United States processed and marketed Instant tea from its facility in Florida, based on sourcing of Instant tea products out of Munnar, Kerala
By 1999, Tata’s brands had a combined market share of 25% in India. The company had 74 tea gardens and was producing 62 million kilograms of tea a year, two-thirds of it packaged and branded. Towards the end of 1999, the tea business was hit by a drought in much of India. In addition, Russia, once the largest buyer of Indian tea, temporarily withdrew from the market.
The Indian tea industry being the second largest employer in the country has enjoyed the attention of the Indian Govt. For the last few years, the performance of Indian exports has not been encouraging. During these tough times, the govt. has been sympathetic to the demand of industry and cultivators. It has passed resolutions supporting the industry domestically and has also lobbied extensively with organizations like the WTO internationally.
1.Indian administration along with European Union and 6 other countries- Brazil, Chile, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico; filed a complaint with the WTO against Byrd Amendment formally known as Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA) legislated by the US.
The essence of this act was that non-US firms which sell below cost price in the US can be fined, and the money given to the US companies who made the complaint in the first place.
This act adversely affected the commodities business of the complainant states and has since been repealed after WTO ruled the Act to be illegal.
2.The Indian govt. took cognizance of the changed tea and coffee market and set up Inter-Ministerial Committee ( IMC ) to look into their problems in late 2003.The IMC has recommended that govt. share the financial burden of plantation industry on account of welfare measures envisaged for plantation workers mandated under the Plantation Labour Act 1951.IMC has also recommended to introduce means so that the Agricultural Income Tax levied by the state governments can be slashed and the tea industry be made competitive.It has recommended that sick/bankrupt plantation estates should be provided with analogous level of relaxation for similarly placed enterprises/estates as are available to industries referred to BIFR.
3.Special Tea Term Loan (STTL) for the tea sector was announced by the Indian govt. in 2004. It envisaged restructuring/rephasing of irregular portion of the outstanding term/working capital loans in the tea sector with repayment over 5 to 7 years and a moratorium of 1 year, which was to be on a case to case basis for large growers. The STTL also provides for working capital up to Rs. 2 lakhs at a rate not exceeding 9% to small growers
4.Latest initiatives by the tea Board
The tea Board plans to launch a new marketing initiative, which will include foray into new markets such as Iran, Pakistan, Vietnam and Egypt. It also plans to renew its efforts in traditional markets like Russia, UK, Iraq and UAE. Noteworthy is its intent to double tea exports to Pakistan within this year.
Assam orthodox tea is all set to receive the Geographical Indications (GI) exclusivity. A GI stamp identifies a certain product as emanating from the territory of a WTO member or region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on December 29, 2006 to set up the Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) under the tea Board for funding replantation and rejuvenation (R&R) programme.
The CCEA gave its approval for pegging the subsidy at 25 per cent and adoption of a funding pattern of 25 per cent promoter's contribution, 25 per cent subsidy from the Government and 50 per cent loan from the SPTF. Also banks have been instructed to increase the lending period to over 13 yrs.
Operational synergy
Tata tea is working on for the right international mix - the integration of processes and the synergy of operations. The focus is on having common systems and creating a global database for market and data collection. The greatest synergy is in terms of new growth areas and in tea buying and blending operations. Under the new growth strategy, certain markets have been identified where Tata tea will introduce its brands by way of ‘soft launches’. These regions include the Gulf countries, West Asia North Africa (WANA) countries, Syria, Jordan and certain market in the Far East. The Tetley Group will offer the Tetley brand in most of the developed markets of the world, as also Pakistan, Bangladesh and Russia.
Tata tea’s presence in developing markets and Tetley’s in developed markets will help the cause of both. As a consequence of the differential growth rates, almost 70 per cent of the tea consumed in the world is in the developing markets. These markets largely have either loose or packet tea and this offers us a long-term opportunity to upgrade them to tea bags. The challenge lies in building the brand as Tetley is a late entrant and has limited awareness. The other challenge is that of distribution, which is critical to success. Creating distribution networks is expensive and time consuming. This is why we need to develop unique business models that enable us to leverage distribution either created by our partner, a joint venture or an alliance.
While Tata Tea is largest tea brand in India, Tetley is the largest tea company in the United Kingdom and Canada and the second largest in the United States by volume and JEMČA is Czech Republic's leading tea company. Tata Tea Limited along with its subsidiary companies manufactures 70 million kilograms of tea in India, has 54 tea estates, 10 tea blending and packaging factories, and employs around 59,000 people.The company owns 51 tea estates in India and Sri Lanka, especially in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. The company is the largest manufacturer of Assam tea and Darjeeling tea and the second-largest manufacturer of Ceylon tea.
HISTORY
Set up in 1964 as a joint venture with UK based James Finlay and Company to develop value-added tea, the Tata Tea Group of Companies, which includes Tata Tea and the UK-based Tetley Group, is the world's second largest global branded tea operation with product and brand presence in 40 countries. It is one of India's first multinational companies, the operations of Tata Tea and its subsidiaries focus on branded product offerings in tea but with a significant presence in plantation activity in India and Sri Lanka.
The consolidated worldwide branded tea business of the Tata Tea Group contributes to around 86 per cent of its consolidated turnover with the remaining 14 per cent coming from Bulk Tea, Coffee, and Investment Income. The company is headquartered in Kolkata and owns 27 tea estates in the states of Assam and West Bengal in eastern India, and Kerala in the south.
The Tetley Group has been a member of the Tata Group since March 2000 and now contributes around two thirds of the total turnover of Tata Tea Ltd. Established in 1837, Tetley was the first British tea company to introduce the tea bag to the UK in 1953. The tea bag was followed by the first round tea bag in 1989, and the 'no drip, no mess' drawstring bag in 1997.
In 1983, Tatas bought the stake belonging to the James Finlay group to form the individual entity Tata Tea. In 1987,Tata set up a fully owned subsidiary, Tata tea Inc. in the USA. In 1991,Tata tea acquired 52.5% of the shares of the Consolidated Coffee Ltd to form Tata Coffee Ltd. In 1992, they enetered into a joint venture in Sri Lanka to form Estate Management Services (P)Ltd. In 1993, they entered into a joint venture with Allied Lyons PLC in the UK to form Estate Tata Tetley. In 1995,Tata tea attempted to buy Tetley tea of the UK. In 1995-96, the Lankan JVC acquired 51% shareholding in Watawala Plantations Ltd. In 2000,Tata tea acquired The Tetley Group Ltd., UK. In 2005,Tata tea decided to sell the Munnar Estate to its workers. Employee cost (of the standalone entity) dropped sharply by about 40 per cent.) They acquired the Good Earth Teas brand, which has a significant presence in the American specialty market. In 2006, they entered into an agreement to take over Jemca, which controls a 26 percent market share in the Czech Republic.
Tata Tea owns five brands in India - Tata Tea, Tetley, Kanan Devan, Chakra Gold and Gemini. The company has a 100% export-oriented unit (KOSHER & HACCP certified) manufacturing Instant Tea in Munnar, Kerala, which is the largest such facility outside the United States. Tata Tea has subsidiaries in Australia, Great Britain, United States, Czech Republic and India.
1980s – Moving up the value chain
In the early 1980s, the tea industry in India was experiencing rising input and labor costs and dwindling margins as well as high taxes. India was facing competition on the world market not just from China, but other countries entering the business.
In 1983, Tata tea decided to move from the commodities business to consumer branding. The first brand Tata tea was introduced. This was followed by other brands like Kannan Devan, Agni, Gemini, and Chakra Gold. In spite of being the largest market in the world, the concept of branded tea took time to be accepted.
1990s – Exporting Branded tea
In the 1990s Tata decided to take its brands into the global markets. It formed an export joint venture with Britain's Tetley tea in 1992. Other new enterprises included a majority interest in Consolidated Coffee Ltd. (Tata Coffee Ltd.) and a joint venture to manage agricultural estates in Sri Lanka. Tata Tea Inc. in the United States processed and marketed Instant tea from its facility in Florida, based on sourcing of Instant tea products out of Munnar, Kerala
By 1999, Tata’s brands had a combined market share of 25% in India. The company had 74 tea gardens and was producing 62 million kilograms of tea a year, two-thirds of it packaged and branded. Towards the end of 1999, the tea business was hit by a drought in much of India. In addition, Russia, once the largest buyer of Indian tea, temporarily withdrew from the market.
The Indian tea industry being the second largest employer in the country has enjoyed the attention of the Indian Govt. For the last few years, the performance of Indian exports has not been encouraging. During these tough times, the govt. has been sympathetic to the demand of industry and cultivators. It has passed resolutions supporting the industry domestically and has also lobbied extensively with organizations like the WTO internationally.
1.Indian administration along with European Union and 6 other countries- Brazil, Chile, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico; filed a complaint with the WTO against Byrd Amendment formally known as Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA) legislated by the US.
The essence of this act was that non-US firms which sell below cost price in the US can be fined, and the money given to the US companies who made the complaint in the first place.
This act adversely affected the commodities business of the complainant states and has since been repealed after WTO ruled the Act to be illegal.
2.The Indian govt. took cognizance of the changed tea and coffee market and set up Inter-Ministerial Committee ( IMC ) to look into their problems in late 2003.The IMC has recommended that govt. share the financial burden of plantation industry on account of welfare measures envisaged for plantation workers mandated under the Plantation Labour Act 1951.IMC has also recommended to introduce means so that the Agricultural Income Tax levied by the state governments can be slashed and the tea industry be made competitive.It has recommended that sick/bankrupt plantation estates should be provided with analogous level of relaxation for similarly placed enterprises/estates as are available to industries referred to BIFR.
3.Special Tea Term Loan (STTL) for the tea sector was announced by the Indian govt. in 2004. It envisaged restructuring/rephasing of irregular portion of the outstanding term/working capital loans in the tea sector with repayment over 5 to 7 years and a moratorium of 1 year, which was to be on a case to case basis for large growers. The STTL also provides for working capital up to Rs. 2 lakhs at a rate not exceeding 9% to small growers
4.Latest initiatives by the tea Board
The tea Board plans to launch a new marketing initiative, which will include foray into new markets such as Iran, Pakistan, Vietnam and Egypt. It also plans to renew its efforts in traditional markets like Russia, UK, Iraq and UAE. Noteworthy is its intent to double tea exports to Pakistan within this year.
Assam orthodox tea is all set to receive the Geographical Indications (GI) exclusivity. A GI stamp identifies a certain product as emanating from the territory of a WTO member or region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on December 29, 2006 to set up the Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) under the tea Board for funding replantation and rejuvenation (R&R) programme.
The CCEA gave its approval for pegging the subsidy at 25 per cent and adoption of a funding pattern of 25 per cent promoter's contribution, 25 per cent subsidy from the Government and 50 per cent loan from the SPTF. Also banks have been instructed to increase the lending period to over 13 yrs.
Operational synergy
Tata tea is working on for the right international mix - the integration of processes and the synergy of operations. The focus is on having common systems and creating a global database for market and data collection. The greatest synergy is in terms of new growth areas and in tea buying and blending operations. Under the new growth strategy, certain markets have been identified where Tata tea will introduce its brands by way of ‘soft launches’. These regions include the Gulf countries, West Asia North Africa (WANA) countries, Syria, Jordan and certain market in the Far East. The Tetley Group will offer the Tetley brand in most of the developed markets of the world, as also Pakistan, Bangladesh and Russia.
Tata tea’s presence in developing markets and Tetley’s in developed markets will help the cause of both. As a consequence of the differential growth rates, almost 70 per cent of the tea consumed in the world is in the developing markets. These markets largely have either loose or packet tea and this offers us a long-term opportunity to upgrade them to tea bags. The challenge lies in building the brand as Tetley is a late entrant and has limited awareness. The other challenge is that of distribution, which is critical to success. Creating distribution networks is expensive and time consuming. This is why we need to develop unique business models that enable us to leverage distribution either created by our partner, a joint venture or an alliance.
Tata Elxsi
Tata Elxsi Limited (BSE: 500408, NSE: TATAELXSI) is a technology company of the Tata Group in India. It delivers outsourced product design and R&D services and solutions to customers worldwide, while also providing solutions through four core practices: product design services, design and engineering, system integration services, and visual computing labs. The company has a team of more than 3600 engineers and designers. It is headquartered in Bangalore.
Overview
Tata Elxsi was created as a joint venture between the Tata group and Elxsi, which produced mainframe computers. In the early 1990s, however, Elxsi went out of business because of the general shift away from the use of mainframes in the global computer industry and the advent of the personal computer. The Tata group kept the name Tata Elxsi but it now belongs to the Tata group of companies.
Tata Elxsi offers complete and integrated product design solutions — including hardware, software and embedded electronics — across multiple technology domains such as Digital signal processing and embedded software, hardware, multimedia, networking, storage, visual and scientific computing, and wireless. The company also provides mechanical product design for electronic enclosures, appliances and packaging, from concept ideation to implementation and tool design.
Tata Elxsi is associated with styling and industrial design for the automotive industry, with one of the largest styling team in India delivering styling and digital modeling services to leading car-makers and tier-1 suppliers across the world. Tata Elxsi provides Engineering services in CAD/CAM/CAE to the automotive and FMCG industry.
Tata Elxsi's youngest division, Visual Computing Labs (VCL), provides animation, visual effects and games services to the worldwide entertainment industry. It has done VFX in Advertisements, Kollywood films and many Bollywood films. Tata Elxsi has created special effects for a number of Hollywood movies too. VCL is known for executing the "liquid gold" open for the 2004 Academy Awards[3], with direction from Prologue Films. VCL's work include graphics for New York City's 2012 Olympics bid[4]. Tata Elxsi is currently working on the visual effects of Roadside Romeo a joint production between Walt Disney and Yash Raj Films.
In 2006, ARM announced the launch of the ARM Approved Design Center: Software Specialist program, an extension to its ARM Approved Design Center program with Tata Elxsi, has been appointed as the first member of the new program.
Tata Elxsi is an ISO 9001:2000 and SEI CMMi Level 5 certified Company. On 01-April-2007, Tata Elxsi changed its logo. The new logo has the Tata Group logo with the words "Tata Elxsi Limited."
Business Divisions
Product Design Services
Designing technology products including hardware / software across the product lifecycle[6].
Innovation and Design Engineering
Providing integrated styling and mechanical design solutions to give shape to products.
System Integration
Enabling the setting up of design environments by assimilating resources, implementing complex design solutions and designing the architecture for total integrated solutions.Visual Computing Labs
Creating digital content for the entertainment industry.
Key Service Domains
Automotive
Tata Elxsi offers custom, full life cycle product R&D services to automobile manufacturers and component suppliers.The company have over a decade of experience in product development and engineering services for automotive companies and are fully conversant with open and standardized automotive software architecture and advanced automotive control applications.As Associate Member of the AUTOSAR and FlexRay consortiums[8], Elxsi support customers in developing solutions for next-generation automotive electronics.
As a member of the Automobile Multimedia Interface Collaboration(AMI-C) – a key standards body influential in defining telematics and infotainment system standards – Elxsi contributed to the definition of the 1394 automotive technical specifications.
Consumer Electronics
Tata Elxsi provides services to consumner electronics OEMs for products like Digital Set-top boxes, digital cameras / camcorders, Audio / Video Players, Digital Video Recorders, Home Appliances, Gaming Consoles and Home Entertainment in areas of embedded intelligence and communication capabilities.
Tata Elxsi provides services in the areas of Silicon/FPGA, Board Design, Firmware, Processors, RTOS, Drivers, Multimedia and Streaming .Networking
Tata Elxsi provides services for devices used in Broadband Infrastructure, IP Networks, Wireless Communications and Convergence
Semiconductors
The Tata Elxsi Chip Design Center offers services to help IC manufacturers go from paper to wafer. Tata Elxsi has product design experience in FPGA's, ASIC's, 0.12 or 0.13 micron technology, verification of processors, developing of behavioral models and technology migration.
Storage
One of Tata Elxsi's first projects 13 years ago was to building a 6-channel SCSI adapter and software for the ELXSI mainframe computer. Since then it has evolved from concentrating on server-attached storage to networked attached storage.
Scientific Instrumentation
Tata Elxsi provides services for data capture, filtering, processing, and presentation for equipment manufacturing and product development in the scientific field.
Telecom
* Design, development and testing of solutions for GSM, GPRS, CDMA, UMTS, WCDMA and WiMAX
* Application development including MMS/EMS clients for mobile handsets, and enterprise servers/carrier class servers for field support. * Middleware development to support multimedia content delivery over wireless networks
Visual Computing Labs (VCL)
Visual Computing Labs (VCL) is focused on providing Animation (2D & 3D), Special Effects, and Gaming services.
VCL offers services in Pre-production, Production and Post-production of content for Advertising, Film & TV, and Gaming, both in India as well as internationally [15].
Visual Computing Labs operates out of multiple locations, including facilities at Bangalore and Mumbai and also out of Los Angeles, California for services in Animation and Visual Effects. Tata Elxsi also have a large facility located at Whitefield, Bangalore, for Game Development, Customized Software Plug-in Development and for R&D.
Movie credits for VCL
2008
* Roadside Romeo * Taare Zameen Par * Jodhaa Akbar
2007
* Gandhi, My Father * Deha * Ta Ra Rum Pum * Spider-Man 32006
* One Night with the King * Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna * Slayer (TV) * Kabul Express * Jaan-E-Mann * Dhoom 2 * Fanaa * Rang De Basanti
2005
* Neal 'N' Nikki * Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak * Salaam Namaste * Anniyan * Bunty Aur Babli * Kaal * Bose:The Forgotten Hero * Into the Blue * xXx: State of the Union
2004
* Veer-Zaara * Hum Tum * Dhoom * Swades * Agnipankh
2003
* Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood * Kal Ho Naa Ho * Boys
Advertisements
* Thumbs Up * Cheetos * Pillsbury * Huggies * Fanta * Coke commercials for overseas audiences
Achievements
* National Film Award for Best Special Effects - Anniyan (2006) * Star Screen Award Best Special Effects - Rang De Basanti (2007)
Overview
Tata Elxsi was created as a joint venture between the Tata group and Elxsi, which produced mainframe computers. In the early 1990s, however, Elxsi went out of business because of the general shift away from the use of mainframes in the global computer industry and the advent of the personal computer. The Tata group kept the name Tata Elxsi but it now belongs to the Tata group of companies.
Tata Elxsi offers complete and integrated product design solutions — including hardware, software and embedded electronics — across multiple technology domains such as Digital signal processing and embedded software, hardware, multimedia, networking, storage, visual and scientific computing, and wireless. The company also provides mechanical product design for electronic enclosures, appliances and packaging, from concept ideation to implementation and tool design.
Tata Elxsi is associated with styling and industrial design for the automotive industry, with one of the largest styling team in India delivering styling and digital modeling services to leading car-makers and tier-1 suppliers across the world. Tata Elxsi provides Engineering services in CAD/CAM/CAE to the automotive and FMCG industry.
Tata Elxsi's youngest division, Visual Computing Labs (VCL), provides animation, visual effects and games services to the worldwide entertainment industry. It has done VFX in Advertisements, Kollywood films and many Bollywood films. Tata Elxsi has created special effects for a number of Hollywood movies too. VCL is known for executing the "liquid gold" open for the 2004 Academy Awards[3], with direction from Prologue Films. VCL's work include graphics for New York City's 2012 Olympics bid[4]. Tata Elxsi is currently working on the visual effects of Roadside Romeo a joint production between Walt Disney and Yash Raj Films.
In 2006, ARM announced the launch of the ARM Approved Design Center: Software Specialist program, an extension to its ARM Approved Design Center program with Tata Elxsi, has been appointed as the first member of the new program.
Tata Elxsi is an ISO 9001:2000 and SEI CMMi Level 5 certified Company. On 01-April-2007, Tata Elxsi changed its logo. The new logo has the Tata Group logo with the words "Tata Elxsi Limited."
Business Divisions
Product Design Services
Designing technology products including hardware / software across the product lifecycle[6].
Innovation and Design Engineering
Providing integrated styling and mechanical design solutions to give shape to products.
System Integration
Enabling the setting up of design environments by assimilating resources, implementing complex design solutions and designing the architecture for total integrated solutions.Visual Computing Labs
Creating digital content for the entertainment industry.
Key Service Domains
Automotive
Tata Elxsi offers custom, full life cycle product R&D services to automobile manufacturers and component suppliers.The company have over a decade of experience in product development and engineering services for automotive companies and are fully conversant with open and standardized automotive software architecture and advanced automotive control applications.As Associate Member of the AUTOSAR and FlexRay consortiums[8], Elxsi support customers in developing solutions for next-generation automotive electronics.
As a member of the Automobile Multimedia Interface Collaboration(AMI-C) – a key standards body influential in defining telematics and infotainment system standards – Elxsi contributed to the definition of the 1394 automotive technical specifications.
Consumer Electronics
Tata Elxsi provides services to consumner electronics OEMs for products like Digital Set-top boxes, digital cameras / camcorders, Audio / Video Players, Digital Video Recorders, Home Appliances, Gaming Consoles and Home Entertainment in areas of embedded intelligence and communication capabilities.
Tata Elxsi provides services in the areas of Silicon/FPGA, Board Design, Firmware, Processors, RTOS, Drivers, Multimedia and Streaming .Networking
Tata Elxsi provides services for devices used in Broadband Infrastructure, IP Networks, Wireless Communications and Convergence
Semiconductors
The Tata Elxsi Chip Design Center offers services to help IC manufacturers go from paper to wafer. Tata Elxsi has product design experience in FPGA's, ASIC's, 0.12 or 0.13 micron technology, verification of processors, developing of behavioral models and technology migration.
Storage
One of Tata Elxsi's first projects 13 years ago was to building a 6-channel SCSI adapter and software for the ELXSI mainframe computer. Since then it has evolved from concentrating on server-attached storage to networked attached storage.
Scientific Instrumentation
Tata Elxsi provides services for data capture, filtering, processing, and presentation for equipment manufacturing and product development in the scientific field.
Telecom
* Design, development and testing of solutions for GSM, GPRS, CDMA, UMTS, WCDMA and WiMAX
* Application development including MMS/EMS clients for mobile handsets, and enterprise servers/carrier class servers for field support. * Middleware development to support multimedia content delivery over wireless networks
Visual Computing Labs (VCL)
Visual Computing Labs (VCL) is focused on providing Animation (2D & 3D), Special Effects, and Gaming services.
VCL offers services in Pre-production, Production and Post-production of content for Advertising, Film & TV, and Gaming, both in India as well as internationally [15].
Visual Computing Labs operates out of multiple locations, including facilities at Bangalore and Mumbai and also out of Los Angeles, California for services in Animation and Visual Effects. Tata Elxsi also have a large facility located at Whitefield, Bangalore, for Game Development, Customized Software Plug-in Development and for R&D.
Movie credits for VCL
2008
* Roadside Romeo * Taare Zameen Par * Jodhaa Akbar
2007
* Gandhi, My Father * Deha * Ta Ra Rum Pum * Spider-Man 32006
* One Night with the King * Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna * Slayer (TV) * Kabul Express * Jaan-E-Mann * Dhoom 2 * Fanaa * Rang De Basanti
2005
* Neal 'N' Nikki * Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak * Salaam Namaste * Anniyan * Bunty Aur Babli * Kaal * Bose:The Forgotten Hero * Into the Blue * xXx: State of the Union
2004
* Veer-Zaara * Hum Tum * Dhoom * Swades * Agnipankh
2003
* Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood * Kal Ho Naa Ho * Boys
Advertisements
* Thumbs Up * Cheetos * Pillsbury * Huggies * Fanta * Coke commercials for overseas audiences
Achievements
* National Film Award for Best Special Effects - Anniyan (2006) * Star Screen Award Best Special Effects - Rang De Basanti (2007)
TATA Steel
Tata Steel, formerly known as TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited), is a steel company based in Mumbai, India. It is part of Tata Group of companies.
Its main plant is located in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, though with its recent acquisitions, the company has become a multinational with operations in various countries. The registered office of Tata Steel is in Mumbai. In the year 2000, the company was recognised as the world's lowest-cost producer of steel. The company was also recognised as the world's best steel producer by World Steel Dynamics in 2005. The company is listed on BSE and NSE; and employs about 82,700 people (as of 2007).
Ratan Tata is the Chairman and B. Muthuraman is the Managing Director of the company. Dr. Tridibesh Mukherjee and Mr. Arun Singh are Deputy Managing Directors of the company
Tata Steel is a limited company registered in India under the Companies Act, 1956.
Tata Steel was established by Indian Parsi businessman Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata in 1907 (he died in 1904, before the project was completed). Tata Steel introduced an 8-hour work day as early as in 1912 when only a 12-hour work day was the legal requirement in Britain. It introduced leave-with-pay in 1920, a practice that became legally binding upon employers in India only in 1945. Similarly, Tata Steel started a Provident Fund for its employees as early as in 1920, which became a law for all employers under the Provident Fund Act only in 1952. Tata Steel's furnaces have never been disrupted on account of a labour strike and this is an enviable record of sorts.
Capacity Expansion
Tata Steel has set an ambitious target to add 50 million tonne per annum capacity by 2015.
* Overseas acquisitions have already added up to 21.4 million tonne, which includes Corus production at 18.2 million tonne, Natsteel production at two million tonne and Millennium Steel production at 1.2 million tonne. Tata is looking to add another 29 million tonnes through the acquisition route.
* Tata Steel has lined up a series of greenfield projects in India and outside which includes
1. 6 million tonne plant in Orissa 2. 12 million tonne in Jharkhand 3. 5 million tonne in Chhattisgarh 4. 3-million tonne plant in Iran 5. 2.4-million tonne plant in Bangladesh 6. 5 million tonne capacity expansion at Jamshedpur 7. 4.5 million tonne plant in Vietnam (feasibility studies underway)
Production
Tata Steel annually produces 9 million tonnes of steel in India and 21.4 million tonnes overseas, making it the fifth largest steel producer in the world. It produced a record-breaking 5.0 million tonnes of salable steel in its Jamshedpur works in 2006-07.
The company's gross revenue in that financial reporting year was Rs. 20196.24 crores. Its PBT was Rs.6261.65 crores and PAT was Rs.4222.15 crores in the same year.
Its main plant is located in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, though with its recent acquisitions, the company has become a multinational with operations in various countries. The registered office of Tata Steel is in Mumbai. In the year 2000, the company was recognised as the world's lowest-cost producer of steel. The company was also recognised as the world's best steel producer by World Steel Dynamics in 2005. The company is listed on BSE and NSE; and employs about 82,700 people (as of 2007).
Ratan Tata is the Chairman and B. Muthuraman is the Managing Director of the company. Dr. Tridibesh Mukherjee and Mr. Arun Singh are Deputy Managing Directors of the company
Tata Steel is a limited company registered in India under the Companies Act, 1956.
Tata Steel was established by Indian Parsi businessman Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata in 1907 (he died in 1904, before the project was completed). Tata Steel introduced an 8-hour work day as early as in 1912 when only a 12-hour work day was the legal requirement in Britain. It introduced leave-with-pay in 1920, a practice that became legally binding upon employers in India only in 1945. Similarly, Tata Steel started a Provident Fund for its employees as early as in 1920, which became a law for all employers under the Provident Fund Act only in 1952. Tata Steel's furnaces have never been disrupted on account of a labour strike and this is an enviable record of sorts.
Capacity Expansion
Tata Steel has set an ambitious target to add 50 million tonne per annum capacity by 2015.
* Overseas acquisitions have already added up to 21.4 million tonne, which includes Corus production at 18.2 million tonne, Natsteel production at two million tonne and Millennium Steel production at 1.2 million tonne. Tata is looking to add another 29 million tonnes through the acquisition route.
* Tata Steel has lined up a series of greenfield projects in India and outside which includes
1. 6 million tonne plant in Orissa 2. 12 million tonne in Jharkhand 3. 5 million tonne in Chhattisgarh 4. 3-million tonne plant in Iran 5. 2.4-million tonne plant in Bangladesh 6. 5 million tonne capacity expansion at Jamshedpur 7. 4.5 million tonne plant in Vietnam (feasibility studies underway)
Production
Tata Steel annually produces 9 million tonnes of steel in India and 21.4 million tonnes overseas, making it the fifth largest steel producer in the world. It produced a record-breaking 5.0 million tonnes of salable steel in its Jamshedpur works in 2006-07.
The company's gross revenue in that financial reporting year was Rs. 20196.24 crores. Its PBT was Rs.6261.65 crores and PAT was Rs.4222.15 crores in the same year.
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) is an Indian software services and consulting company. It is one of the world's largest providers of information technology and business process outsourcing services. As of 2007, it is Asia's largest information technology firm and has the largest number of employees among Indian IT companies with strength of over 110,000[1] employees in 47 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $5.7 billion for fiscal year ended 31 March 2008 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India.
TCS is part of one of Asia's largest conglomerates, the Tata Group, which has interests in areas such as energy, telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing, chemicals, engineering and materials.
Tata Consultancy Services was established in the year 1968. It began as the "Tata Computer Centre", a division of the Tata Group, whose main business was to provide computer services to other group companies. However, the potential of computerization and computer services was realized early on, and an electrical engineer from the Tata Electric Companies, Fakir Chand Kohli, was brought in as the first General Manager. Soon after, the company was named Tata Consultancy Services.
TCS's first software export project was undertaken in 1974 when it converted the Hospital Information System from Burroughs Medium Systems COBOL to Burroughs Small Systems COBOL. This project was carried out entirely in TCS Mumbai on the ICL 1903 Computer. In 1980, TCS and a sister Tata firm accounted for 63% of the Indian software industry exports, $4 million shared by 21 firms. In 1984, TCS set up an office in the Santacruz Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) – Mumbai.
The early 1990s saw a tremendous surge in TCS's business, which also resulted in a massive recruitment drive by the company. In early and mid-1990s, TCS re-invented itself to become a software products company. In the late 1990s, to accelerate its revenue growth, TCS decided to employ a three-pronged strategy – developing new products with high revenue earning potential, tapping domestic and other fast growing markets and focusing on inorganic growth through mergers & acquisitions. In late 1998, the company decided to concentrate on new revenue opportunities including Y2K and Euro conversion. E-business was a major area of focus in the late 1990s.
In 2004, TCS became a publicly listed company.
Offices and development centres
Indian branches
TCS has development centres and/or regional offices in the following Indian cities: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Vadodara, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Siruseri,Thiruvananthapuram and indore.
Global units
Africa: South Africa
Asia (outside India): Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE
Australia: Australia
Europe: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
North America: Canada, Mexico, USA
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay.
Global presence
TCS has set up nearshore centres in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, regional development centres in Hungary, Uruguay and Brazil and a global development centre in China, in addition to India.
In 2006, Tata acquired Chile's Comicrom S.A., Australia's Financial Network Services (Holdings) Pty Ltd, (FNS) and Sweden's Indian IT Resources AB (SITAR) through subsidiaries.
The Company has set up two subsidiaries, viz. TCS FNS Pty Limited in Australia and Diligenta Limited in the UK. It has also set up other subsidiaries such as Portugal Unipessoal Limitada in Portugal, Tata Consultancy Services Luxembourg S.A. in Luxembourg and Tata Consultancy Service Chile Limited in Chile. The Company has 49 subsidiaries as on March 31, 2006.
In March 2006, the Company, through its subsidiary Diligenta Limited acquired, on a going concern basis certain businesses of Pearl Group Services Limited. The acquisition included specified insurance contracts and claim administration business and assets including goodwill and know-how.
The Company has entered into a joint venture agreement with the Intelenet Global Services Ltd. For the GM deal, TCS is tying up with EDS to bid for parts of the business.
In February, 2007, TCS kicked off a joint venture in China with Microsoft and three Chinese entities.
TCS is part of one of Asia's largest conglomerates, the Tata Group, which has interests in areas such as energy, telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing, chemicals, engineering and materials.
Tata Consultancy Services was established in the year 1968. It began as the "Tata Computer Centre", a division of the Tata Group, whose main business was to provide computer services to other group companies. However, the potential of computerization and computer services was realized early on, and an electrical engineer from the Tata Electric Companies, Fakir Chand Kohli, was brought in as the first General Manager. Soon after, the company was named Tata Consultancy Services.
TCS's first software export project was undertaken in 1974 when it converted the Hospital Information System from Burroughs Medium Systems COBOL to Burroughs Small Systems COBOL. This project was carried out entirely in TCS Mumbai on the ICL 1903 Computer. In 1980, TCS and a sister Tata firm accounted for 63% of the Indian software industry exports, $4 million shared by 21 firms. In 1984, TCS set up an office in the Santacruz Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) – Mumbai.
The early 1990s saw a tremendous surge in TCS's business, which also resulted in a massive recruitment drive by the company. In early and mid-1990s, TCS re-invented itself to become a software products company. In the late 1990s, to accelerate its revenue growth, TCS decided to employ a three-pronged strategy – developing new products with high revenue earning potential, tapping domestic and other fast growing markets and focusing on inorganic growth through mergers & acquisitions. In late 1998, the company decided to concentrate on new revenue opportunities including Y2K and Euro conversion. E-business was a major area of focus in the late 1990s.
In 2004, TCS became a publicly listed company.
Offices and development centres
Indian branches
TCS has development centres and/or regional offices in the following Indian cities: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Vadodara, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Goa, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Siruseri,Thiruvananthapuram and indore.
Global units
Africa: South Africa
Asia (outside India): Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE
Australia: Australia
Europe: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
North America: Canada, Mexico, USA
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay.
Global presence
TCS has set up nearshore centres in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, regional development centres in Hungary, Uruguay and Brazil and a global development centre in China, in addition to India.
In 2006, Tata acquired Chile's Comicrom S.A., Australia's Financial Network Services (Holdings) Pty Ltd, (FNS) and Sweden's Indian IT Resources AB (SITAR) through subsidiaries.
The Company has set up two subsidiaries, viz. TCS FNS Pty Limited in Australia and Diligenta Limited in the UK. It has also set up other subsidiaries such as Portugal Unipessoal Limitada in Portugal, Tata Consultancy Services Luxembourg S.A. in Luxembourg and Tata Consultancy Service Chile Limited in Chile. The Company has 49 subsidiaries as on March 31, 2006.
In March 2006, the Company, through its subsidiary Diligenta Limited acquired, on a going concern basis certain businesses of Pearl Group Services Limited. The acquisition included specified insurance contracts and claim administration business and assets including goodwill and know-how.
The Company has entered into a joint venture agreement with the Intelenet Global Services Ltd. For the GM deal, TCS is tying up with EDS to bid for parts of the business.
In February, 2007, TCS kicked off a joint venture in China with Microsoft and three Chinese entities.
Tata Safari
The Tata Safari is an SUV produced by Tata Motors of India. It is the first SUV to be designed, developed and manufactured entirely in India [1]. The Safari is said to deliver almost the same power and torque as the Mitsubishi Pajero, but available at 60% of the Pajero's price (although this hasn't been thoroughly confirmed). It was released in 1998 with a 1.9-litre Turbo Diesel engine.
The Safari was extensively modified in August 2005, which included the addition of a new 3-litre DiCOR engine along with modified interiors and exteriors. This 3-litre engine is the first diesel engine from Tata Motors with common rail technology. A 2-litre petrol engine was also added to the range that same year. It was this modified version that won the Motor Forum's Car of the Year for 2007, in the SUV category. Voted by the users, it beat out rivals such as the Toyota RAV 4, Land Rover Freelander and Honda CRV.
Launched in 1998 in Turbo Diesel form, the Safari had 90 bhp (67 kW) power. It came with a synchromesh forward five-speed gearbox, with a 4X4 option. However, it was regarded to be grossly underpowered, with a heavy body rollover.
The new Tata Safari DiCOR (DiCOR standing for "Direct Injection Common Rail engine") is powered by a 3000 cc inline-four cylinder engine that develops 114 bhp (85 kW) at 3000 rpm and 30 kgf·m (300 N·m) of torque between 1600 and 2000 rpm. The engine is taken from the Tata 407, a truck manufactured by Tata Motors.
The new engine is mated to a five-speed gearbox, with a new, sporty gear lever. Tata recently displayed a EURO 4 compliant 2.2-litre DiCOR engine with 143 bhp (107 kW) at the 2006 Bologna Motor Show [2]. A new Safari DiCOR 2.2L VTT (Variable Turbine Technology) with 140 bhp (100 kW) and 320 N·m (236 ft·lbf) of torque launched on October 5, 2007. It has some improved interior features like two-tone upholstery and leather seats. The high end version of the Safari comes with full safety features like airbags and ABS with EBD, and is priced at almost $20,000.
The main issue with the Safari is that it is quite a heavy vehicle; it tilts the scales at 2115 kg (4663 lb) (kerb); adding an extra 110 kg (243 lb) for the 4WD variant [3]. The consequence of that is though the engine specifications sound great on paper - 30 kgf·m (290 N·m) of torque at 1600 rpm is decent by any standards - it is not a great leap in terms of outright performance [4]. Nevertheless, with the DiCOR engine, the 4WD Safari is substantially quicker than the 2000 cc turbodiesel model.
The Safari was extensively modified in August 2005, which included the addition of a new 3-litre DiCOR engine along with modified interiors and exteriors. This 3-litre engine is the first diesel engine from Tata Motors with common rail technology. A 2-litre petrol engine was also added to the range that same year. It was this modified version that won the Motor Forum's Car of the Year for 2007, in the SUV category. Voted by the users, it beat out rivals such as the Toyota RAV 4, Land Rover Freelander and Honda CRV.
Launched in 1998 in Turbo Diesel form, the Safari had 90 bhp (67 kW) power. It came with a synchromesh forward five-speed gearbox, with a 4X4 option. However, it was regarded to be grossly underpowered, with a heavy body rollover.
The new Tata Safari DiCOR (DiCOR standing for "Direct Injection Common Rail engine") is powered by a 3000 cc inline-four cylinder engine that develops 114 bhp (85 kW) at 3000 rpm and 30 kgf·m (300 N·m) of torque between 1600 and 2000 rpm. The engine is taken from the Tata 407, a truck manufactured by Tata Motors.
The new engine is mated to a five-speed gearbox, with a new, sporty gear lever. Tata recently displayed a EURO 4 compliant 2.2-litre DiCOR engine with 143 bhp (107 kW) at the 2006 Bologna Motor Show [2]. A new Safari DiCOR 2.2L VTT (Variable Turbine Technology) with 140 bhp (100 kW) and 320 N·m (236 ft·lbf) of torque launched on October 5, 2007. It has some improved interior features like two-tone upholstery and leather seats. The high end version of the Safari comes with full safety features like airbags and ABS with EBD, and is priced at almost $20,000.
The main issue with the Safari is that it is quite a heavy vehicle; it tilts the scales at 2115 kg (4663 lb) (kerb); adding an extra 110 kg (243 lb) for the 4WD variant [3]. The consequence of that is though the engine specifications sound great on paper - 30 kgf·m (290 N·m) of torque at 1600 rpm is decent by any standards - it is not a great leap in terms of outright performance [4]. Nevertheless, with the DiCOR engine, the 4WD Safari is substantially quicker than the 2000 cc turbodiesel model.
Tata Sumo
Tata Sumo is a multi-utility car released by Tata Motors of India in 1994
Prior to the Sumo, the Indian market had stagnated, where the most modern vehicles in the same class were from the class were from Mahindra, primarily derived from the original Willys Jeep models. As such, the Sumo was able to quickly make a name for itself. As such, the Tata Sumo can claim to have created the utility vehicle segment in India.
The Sumo is based on Tata Motors' 207 pick-up platform and thus, shared most of its other mechanicals with other Tata vehicles like the Tata Sierra, Tata Estate, Tata Tatamobile, Tata Telcoline (TL) and Tata 207DI. In 1994, the Tata Sumo originally came with a 1948 cc normally aspirated diesel engine. Later, an option of a turbocharged version of the same engine was also offered.
To stay alive in the competition, the Sumo regularly went through minor cosmetic upgrades such as body coloured bumpers, body graphics and so on. Some of its higher variants shared interior components from the more expensive Tata Safari SUV and the Tata Indigo sedan.
A no-frills version called the Tata Spacio is also available. It is equipped with a 3000 cc DI diesel engine sourced from the popular LCV Tata 407. The prominent visual difference was the presence of round headlamps instead of the rectangular lamps. A soft top version of the Spacio called the Spacio ST was also introduced for the rural markets.
The Sumo received an extensive facelift in 2004 and was renamed the Sumo Victa in face of competition from relatively modern competitors.
The Victa has a feature set that is is seen as relatively uncommon for an MUV in India. Power windows, power steering, dual AC, central locking, clear lens multi reflector head lamps, crystal finish tail lamp cluster, anti glare ORVMS with electronic control, remote keyless entry, tachometers, LCD monitors, voice warnings, multiple trip odometers are all either standard or available options.
After the facelift, the Spacio inherited the styling elements of the older Tata Sumo. In 2007, the Victa became available with the Spacio's 3000 cc engine. And in terms of styling, the positioning of the spare wheel was changed from the rear tailgate to the underbody of the vehicle.
This model comes in 8 & 10 seater variants and is very much popular with private transporters & contract taxi vendors because of its lower cost.
Prior to the Sumo, the Indian market had stagnated, where the most modern vehicles in the same class were from the class were from Mahindra, primarily derived from the original Willys Jeep models. As such, the Sumo was able to quickly make a name for itself. As such, the Tata Sumo can claim to have created the utility vehicle segment in India.
The Sumo is based on Tata Motors' 207 pick-up platform and thus, shared most of its other mechanicals with other Tata vehicles like the Tata Sierra, Tata Estate, Tata Tatamobile, Tata Telcoline (TL) and Tata 207DI. In 1994, the Tata Sumo originally came with a 1948 cc normally aspirated diesel engine. Later, an option of a turbocharged version of the same engine was also offered.
To stay alive in the competition, the Sumo regularly went through minor cosmetic upgrades such as body coloured bumpers, body graphics and so on. Some of its higher variants shared interior components from the more expensive Tata Safari SUV and the Tata Indigo sedan.
A no-frills version called the Tata Spacio is also available. It is equipped with a 3000 cc DI diesel engine sourced from the popular LCV Tata 407. The prominent visual difference was the presence of round headlamps instead of the rectangular lamps. A soft top version of the Spacio called the Spacio ST was also introduced for the rural markets.
The Sumo received an extensive facelift in 2004 and was renamed the Sumo Victa in face of competition from relatively modern competitors.
The Victa has a feature set that is is seen as relatively uncommon for an MUV in India. Power windows, power steering, dual AC, central locking, clear lens multi reflector head lamps, crystal finish tail lamp cluster, anti glare ORVMS with electronic control, remote keyless entry, tachometers, LCD monitors, voice warnings, multiple trip odometers are all either standard or available options.
After the facelift, the Spacio inherited the styling elements of the older Tata Sumo. In 2007, the Victa became available with the Spacio's 3000 cc engine. And in terms of styling, the positioning of the spare wheel was changed from the rear tailgate to the underbody of the vehicle.
This model comes in 8 & 10 seater variants and is very much popular with private transporters & contract taxi vendors because of its lower cost.
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