1920 – 1999
Mr Darbari S Seth was a unique individual whose vision and drive earned him the title of ‘the man with the Midas touch'. He was the builder of Tata Chemicals Limited. The Tata Chemicals plant is located in Mithapur, Gujarat – an extremely resource-poor region of the country. It was the genius of Mr Seth that conceptualized the process layout and design of this facility, using large quantities of sea water to produce chemicals that are of great value for several industrial activities in the country. Tata Chemicals also produces and supplies common salt, which is iodized by the company at no cost to the consumer and has become a widely respected household name. Mr Seth’s gift benefited not only Tata Chemicals but also a number of different companies under the Tata Group.
As and when these companies were brought under his charge at various stages, he turned them around to generate record profits and reach peak levels of performance. At some stage, he was the Chairman of 14 companies including outstanding performers like Tata Chemicals of course, Tata Tea, Consolidated Coffee, Excel Industries, and Rallis India Limited, among others.
Mr Seth’s vision and gift extended far beyond the corporate sector. He pioneered and launched several initiatives of social relevance and national importance. He was always one who believed in and practised the efficient use of energy and the promotion of renewable sources for the production and supply of energy.
It was in this spirit that Mr Seth decided to establish TERI – the Tata Energy Research Institute – in 1974. Always one for utilizing a share of the profits of companies that he led for larger social purposes, he provided a decent sum from two of the companies he chaired for establishing TERI’s corpus. He was eager to see the development of the Institute such that it would make a difference to the way people think about energy and help create an energy structure that would minimize pollution and harmful environmental impacts. His style of functioning as Chairman of TERI was to provide encouragement, inspiration, and moral support to the Director and staff of the Institute without ever interfering in the operational decision-making.
He grew to regard TERI as the jewel in his crown, and remained Chairman of the Institute till his last day. Every little achievement of TERI provided Mr Seth with enormous joy and pride. A great source of satisfaction for him was the reality that the Institute had rapidly grown to a size and geographical spread perhaps even beyond his own expectations, and that TERI was able to generate resources and revenues tocontinuously expand and maintain its activities in a viable and financially autonomous manner. His advice to TERI always emphasized the enormous value of financial autonomy, which he rightly believed was a pre-requisite to intellectual autonomy.
TERI has grown as a family in the last 3 decades that it has been functioning as a research institution and it continues to faithfully cherish and uphold the values of this great visionary whose gleam in the eye led to the foundation of TERI.
Tenth Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture, 2011
