Bombay House is a historic privately owned building in the city of Mumbai, India that serves as the head office of the

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...

. Situated near

Hutatma Chowk Hutatma Chowk ("Martyrs' Square, (Officially, Hutatma Smarak Chowk) ("Martyrs Memorial Square"), is a square in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The square hosts Flora Fountain and was known by that name until 1961 when it was officially ren ...

, it was completed in 1924 and has been the Tata Group's headquarters ever since. The building is a four-story colonial structure built with Malad stone and was designed by Scottish architect

George Wittet George Wittet (1878-1926) was a Scottish architect who worked mostly in Mumbai, India. Biography George Wittet was born in Blair Atholl, Scotland in 1878. He studied architecture with a Mr. Heiton of Perth, Scotland, and worked in Edinburgh ...

who designed over 40 buildings for the group and later became the head of Tata Engineering Company Limited, now

Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses. Formerly known as Tata En ...

. The building houses the office of chairman and all top directors of Tata Sons, the holding company. Core companies of the group-Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Tata Power, Tata Industries, Tata airlines and Trent -operate out of the Bombay House.

History

A plot of ground measuring was put up by the Bombay Municipality for sale in Bombay and then purchased by the Tata Group. It was observed that the various Tata concerns could not be accommodated in

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is situated between Surat & Mumbai. Navsari is a twin city of Surat. It is located 37 km south of Sura ...

buildings and Navsari Chambers which they had been occupying since 1904. The Tata Group is perhaps the only Indian corporate to name its headquarters after a city where it started its journey. Bombay House, the global corporate HQ of the group. At that time, the group ran four businesses-textiles, hotels, steel and power-under the leadership of Sir

Dorabji Tata Sir Dorabji Tata (27 August 1859 – 3 June 1932) was an Indian businessman of the British Raj, and a key figure in the history and development of the Tata Group. He was knighted in 1910 for his contributions to industry in British India. ...

, the elder son of group founder

Jamsetji Tata Jamsetji (Jamshedji) Nusserwanji Tata (3 March 1839 – 19 May 1904) was an Indian pioneer industrialist who founded the Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate company. Named the greatest philanthropist of the last century by several poll ...

. It was from this Edwardian building that Dorabji Tata diversified the portfolio into insurance, soaps, detergents and cooking oil. And it is in this building where the first Indian airline was conceptualised (1932) and where the largest global acquisition (Corus, for $13 billion in 2007) by an Indian group was made. The four-storey Bombay House is owned by The Associated Building Company, part of the

. The task of this company is largely to manage the building. It earns rent from the companies that have offices within the premises which houses about 400 people. The interiors of Bombay House have remained almost unchanged for many decades. After

Ratan Tata Ratan Naval Tata, GBE (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian industrialist and former chairman of Tata Sons. He was also the chairman of the Tata Group from 1990 to 2012, serving also as interim chairman from October 2016 through February 2017. ...

occupied the corner office in 1991, he retained the set-up of the office left by his predecessor,

J.R.D Tata Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (29 July 1904 – 29 November 1993) was a French-Indian aviator, industrialist, entrepreneur and chairman of Tata Group. Born into the Tata family of India, he was the son of noted businessman Ratanji Dadabho ...

, for several years. Later, the furniture, including his table, armchair and office stationery, was shifted to Pune where a replica of JRD's office has been set up on the first floor of Tata Central Archives building. Additions at Bombay House include a visitor's lobby at the entrance on the ground floor. On 9 February 2011, a major fireIBNLiv
"Mumbai: Fire at Bombay House"
''INBLive'', 9 February 2011, 9 February 2011. broke out in the Bombay House, causing three deaths and one injury. The basement, where the fire took place, had housed the office of Tata Sports Club which has now shifted out of the building.

References

{{Portal bar, Architecture Tata Group Office buildings in Mumbai Office buildings completed in 1924 Corporate headquarters Headquarters in India