What Ratan Tata said about Ambani's megabucks mansion
Mukesh Ambani (L) and Ratan Tata (R) walk together to attend a press conference in New Delhi during Obama's India visit last November. The Indian media went into a frenzy over the weekend because of a statement in The Times in London, attributed "accurately," the paper maintains, to Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata.
The Times interviewer wrote, "I mention the home of Mukesh Ambani, the 27-storey, 630-million [pound] building, complete with hanging gardens, that towers over nearby slums. 'It makes me wonder why someone would do that. That's what revolutions are made of,' he (Tata) says darkly. 'The person who lives in there should be concerned about what he sees around him and (asking) can he make a difference. If he is not, then it's sad because this country (India) needs people to allocate some of their enormous wealth to find ways of mitigating the hardships that people have.'''
As the two "captains of Indian industry", both based in the financial capital of Mumbai, Tata and Ambani represent different values in popular belief. In their most positive lights, Ratan Tata is a paragon of moral rectitude and philanthropy, while Mukesh Ambani stands as a symbol of Indian ambition and economic power in this century.
And if one guy implies the other guy's million-dollar mansion is shameful, you can bet it's sensational fodder for your weekend poker table.
Even if the report is "out of context and factually incorrect," as a Tata spokesperson now says.
"Mr Tata's comments on wealth are in the larger context of the growing disparity in the society. The comments seem to have been deliberately sensationalized. There have been words, individuals and statements that have not been mentioned by Mr Tata during the course of the interaction which are being attributed to him. We have already registered our protest with the concerned publication and will continue to pursue measures against the incorrect impressions being sought to be created," the spokesperson said in a statement.
