Tata is a rapidly growing business group based in India with significant international operations. The total revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $70.8 billion (around Rs325,334 crore) in 2008-09, with 64.8 per cent of this coming from business outside India, and they employ around 363,039 people worldwide. The Tata name has been respected in India for 140 years for its adherence to strong values and business ethics.

The business operations of the Tata Group currently encompass seven business sectors: communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. The Group's 28 publicly listed enterprises have a combined market capitalisation of some $60 billion, among the highest among Indian business houses, and a shareholder base of 3.5 million. The major companies in the Group include Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Tea, Indian Hotels and Tata Communications.

The Group’s major companies are beginning to be counted globally. Tata Steel became the sixth largest steel maker in the world after it acquired Corus. Tata Motors is among the top five commercial vehicle manufacturers in the world and has recently acquired Jaguar and Land Rover. TCS is a leading global software company, with delivery centres in the US, UK, Hungary, Brazil, Uruguay and China, besides India.  Tata Tea is the second largest branded tea company in the world, through its UK-based subsidiary Tetley. Tata Chemicals is the world’s second largest manufacturer of soda ash. Tata Communications is one of the world’s largest wholesale voice carriers.

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata Group’s early years were inspired by the spirit of nationalism. The Group pioneered several industries of national importance in India: steel, power, hospitality and airlines. In more recent times, the Tata Group’s pioneering spirit has been showcased by companies like Tata Consultancy Services, India’s first software company, which pioneered the international delivery model, and Tata Motors, which made India’s first indigenously developed car, the Indica, in 1998 and recently unveiled the world's lowest-cost car, the Tata Nano.

The Tata Group has always believed in returning wealth to the society it serves. Two-thirds of the equity of Tata Sons, the Tata Group’s promoter company, is held by philanthropic trusts which have created national institutions in science and technology, medical research, social studies and the performing arts. The trusts also provide aid and assistance to NGOs in the areas of education, healthcare and livelihoods. Tata companies also extend social welfare activities to communities around their industrial units. The combined development-related expenditure of the Trusts and the companies amounts to around 4 per cent of the Group's net profits.