In 1969, Faqir Chand Kohli transformed Tata Electric's initiative into Tata Consultancy Services, pioneering India's IT industry and making a global impact through innovation and leadership.
In 1969, a 45-year-old engineer at Tata Electric Company (now Tata Power) was asked to leave a job he understood completely and take charge of a project that had probably never been attempted before. There was no Microsoft, no Intel, no SAP, no Accenture. There was barely a vocabulary for what computers could do outside of the power grids and ledgers he had spent two decades mastering.
Reluctantly, Faqir Chand Kohli said yes. He then spent the next thirty years proving that India, the Tata Group, and he could do something truly pathbreaking.
By the time Kohli was done, the endeavour, which we know as Tata Consultancy Services, had far exceeded any goals that may have been set.
The impact was far and wide. A new industry was born that would provide employment to millions of young Indians. And way beyond that, it helped place India firmly on the global map as a provider of quality services.
From Peshawar to MIT: The Early Foundations of an Electrical Engineer
Kohli was born on March 19, 1924, in Peshawar, in what was then the Northwest Frontier Province of undivided India. He was the youngest son of Gobindram Kohli and Bhagwanti Devi. His father was a self-made man who had built Kirpa Ram & Brothers into the most reputable drapery and apparel business in North India, serving British military officers, civil service officials and Indian royalty alike.
