New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently announced minting of commemorative coins of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata in order to mark his 175th birth anniversary.
The purpose behind extravagance is, actually, to stimulate Indian businesses for Modi's ‘Make in India' campaign.
Jamsetji was chosen for this purpose because he is regarded as the ‘Father of Indian Industry'. He was the one who set in motion Asia's first integrated steel company, despite the hostile investment environment of the then colonised India and his own failing health.
Depicting Jamshetji's bust the coins to be minted are in the sets of Rs. 100 and Rs. 5 coins in silver. The coins are fabricated by the Kolkata mint of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India.
Initially, only a dozen sets have been released to present to the dignitaries, at a small ceremony, to be organized at PM's residence on January 6.
It is for the first time that such coins are being minted for an industrialist. Earlier they were minted only to honor freedom struggles, freedom fighters, events, scientists, temples, institutions and organizations.
Tata Group founder Jamshetji was born on March 3, 1839 in Navsari, Gujarat. He was the first businessman in a family of Parsi Zoroastrian priests. Besides setting up a hotel – Taj Mahal in Mumbai, he initiated an iron and steel company (now known as Tata Steel), a world-class learning institution – Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, and a hydroelectric plant known as Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Company.
Tatal Steel is ranked among the world's top steel companies while Tata Group is India's biggest conglomerate in today's time.
