Steel Man of India Jamshed J Irani passes away at 85

The “steel man of India,” Jamshed J Irani, passed away late Monday night in Jamshedpur at the age of 85, according to Tata Steel.

Irani spent more than 40 years working for Tata Steel. He departed from the Tata Steel board in June 2011, leaving a legacy of 43 years that brought him and the company recognition on a global scale in a number of industries.

Dr Irani, who was born on June 2, 1936, in Nagpur, received his BSc from Science College in 1956 and his MSc in Geology from Nagpur University in 1958.

As a J N Tata scholar, he then travelled to the University of Sheffield in the UK, where he earned a Masters in Metallurgy in 1960 and a PhD in Metallurgy in 1963.

He began his professional career in Sheffield in 1963 with the British Iron and Steel Research Association, but he had always desired to advance the country. In 1968, after his return to India, he joined The Tata Iron and Steel Company (then known as Tata Steel), working as an assistant to the director in charge of research and development.

Later, he rose through the ranks to become Tata Steel’s president in 1985, general manager in 1979, and general superintendent in 1978. Before retiring in 2011, he served as Tata Steel’s Joint Managing Director from 1988 to 1992.

He joined the Tata Steel Board in 1981 and served as a Non-Executive Director beginning in 2001 for ten years. Dr. Irani served as a director for a number of Tata Group firms, including Tata Motors and Tata Teleservices, in addition to Tata Steel and Tata Sons.