The chamber would like to extend its congratulations to Mr. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of the Board of Tata Sons, who was presented with the The French Legion of Honor at a special event held today in Paris.
The Legion of Honor is the highest French decoration and one of the most famous in the world. Established in 19th May 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte at that time Premier Consul.
It is been presented on behalf of the Head of State to reward the most deserving citizens in all fields of activity.
The presentation was done by Madame Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, during a ceremony at the Quai d’Orsay, in the presence of some of the biggest names from Indo-French 🇮🇳 🇫🇷 business world.
In addition to his incredible professional career at Tata, Mr. Chandrasekaran is an avid photographer, and a passionate long-distance marathon runner. However he is yet to participate in the Paris marathon and Minister Colonna, in her last words at the ceremony gave him a challenge, that of coming to run the Paris marathon and he has took it up!
The relationship between Tata and France is a historic one:
The legendary founder of Tata group Mr. Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1983.
Mr. Tata was in fact born in Paris in 1904 to businessman Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and his French wife Suzanne Brière. His love for flying and airlines was an open secret. During his summer vacations in Hardelot where his family had a house by the sea in Northern France, he would keenly watch his hero, Louis Bleriot's chief pilot Adolph Pegoud, land a plane on the beach. The passion for flying eventually led him to introduce India’s first airline company - Air India (which was previously known as Tata Air Service). He died in 1993 and is buried at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris
More recently in February 2023, Tata-owned Air India decided to acquire 250 Airbus aircraft. This order marks the start of a new chapter for both Airbus and Air India.
Mr. Natarajan infact mentioned during his thank you remark to minister Colonna, that a special partnership has been established with Safran!
The Tata-France relationship is a testament to the special connection that exist between the two countries 🇮🇳 🇫🇷
The chamber was represented by president Bénédicte Brouard at this ceremony
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