Tata Steel did make it - the race with Companhia Sidurgica Nacional to take Corus over culminated in an auction that saw the Tatas bid 11.3 Billion USD for the European steel major.

The magnitude of the deal signals a distinct shift in strategy - the previous biggest acquisition by the Tatas was a 677 Million USD purchase of stake in US based Energy Brands Inc. The Corus acquisition breaks new ground in several ways - Tata Steel will be India's largest steel producer, outpacing the Indian public sector giant SAIL by a big margin. Private enterprise thus will dominate yet another sector in the country. The deal will also see them climbing to fifth in the world (from fifty sixth) in terms of production capacity. In broader terms, this would be the largest overseas acquisition by an Indian company. While there are some concerns about the premium Tata Steel is paying for the acquisition, and speculation about further debt liabilities to fund it, the move is indicative of the increasing appetite for risk taking in the nation. Entrepreneurship has never had a better climate to flourish in.

On a different note, Tata Steel epitomizes the never say die spirit of a few visionaries in colonial India. J N Tata, founder of the Tata Group in the 19th century, decided that his fledgling textile business would fuel the achievement of three ambitions - iron and steel manufacture, hydro-electric power generation and a world class educational institution. He succeeded in all three projects, but not before surmounting obstacles that frustrate most of us. The then Chief Commissioner of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, Sir Frederick Upcott, was particularly harsh on the steel idea, vowing to eat every pound of steel rail that the Tatas would produce. Tata Steel went into production in 1912. History is mute on the question of Sir Frederick's fulfillment of his vow, and today's acquisition can only exacerbate the indigestion his poor stomach would have been subjected to.

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