'Came close to marriage, 4 times'

In a rare admission on his personal life, the reclusive chairman of the Tata Group—Ratan Tata—in an interview to CNN's Talk Asia, confessed that he ‘seriously’ fell in love four times and almost came close to marriage but due to some fear he backed off. HT reports.

In a rare admission on his personal life, the reclusive chairman of the Tata Group—Ratan Tata—in an interview to CNN's Talk Asia, confessed that he ‘seriously’ fell in love four times and almost came close to marriage but due to some fear he backed off.

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“I came seriously close to getting married four times and each time it got close to there and I guess I backed off in fear or for one reason or another,” admitted Tata.

He however does not have any regret on his decisions to not marry one of them. “In hindsight when I look at the people involved, it wasn’t a bad thing what I did. I think it may have been more complex had the marriage taken place,” said Tata.

Touching upon the ongoing cases of corruption that have dented the country’s image, Ratan Tata, whose group has also been dragged in the 2G spectrum scam, expects that the courts will put things in the right perspective.

While India has witnessed several issues of corruption, Tata said, “I hope that it doesn’t become a nation of scandals and allegations as they are,” adding there are many honest businessmen in India and ‘there are many that bend. I’m happy that I have not bent.’

As Tata is set to retire in December 2012, the Tata Group has been looking for a successor and has also formed a five-member committee to figure out candidates. While there has been no success yet and speculations are on that Noel Tata, the stepbrother of Ratan Tata will eventually be appointed as the chairman, the elder Tata limited himself to saying that Noel is one of the candidates.

“My stepbrother is one of the candidates that is being considered and I don’t think it’s my lot to, to say whether it’s fifty percent, or ninety percent or ten percent,” said Tata.