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Darbari Seth, Tata group's luminary, passes away

Darbari Seth, one of the Tata group's luminaries, died early today in London following a heart attack.

Seth, 79, is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son, Manu Seth who took over as managing director of Tata Chemicals after his father's retirement.

A chemical engineer from the University of Cincinnati, USA, Seth who had a 50-year long association with the Tatas, had retired as chairman of Tata Chemicals and had remained director of the group holding company, Tata Sons till 1995.

Known to be one of the key advisers of J R D Tata, Seth left Tata Sons when new retirement norms were enforced in the group.

He conceptualised and established the well-known Tata Energy Research Institute and was chairman of the TERI Governing Council till his death. TERI described Seth as a man with a ''limitless vision''.

Born on January 1, 1920, Seth had a long and distinguished career with the Tata group of industries and was the driving force behind the success of leading Tata companies like Tata chemicals, Tata Tea and Rallis India.

A director of over 20 companies, Seth was until recently, the chairman of some 14 companies. He stepped aside to make room for the next generation. However, he continued his association with Tata Chemicals as the Chairman-Emeritus.

Spanning a glorious career of over 52 years in industry, Seth won many laurels from the corporate bodies which included the award of eminent chemical engineer by the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers and Hall of Fame Award by the Chemtech Foundation.

UNI

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