Nowroji Saklatwala

Who was Nowroji Saklatwala?

Sir Nowroji Saklatwala, KBE, CIE was the third chairman of the Tata group from 1932 till his sudden death in 1938 due to a heart attack.

He was son of Bapuji Saklatwala and Virbaiji Saklatwala. His mother Virbaiji was the sister of Jamshetji Tata. He completed his studies at St. Xavier College, joined the family business in 1899 and worked closely with Dorabji Tata. When Dorabji died in 1932, he became the Chairman of the Tata Group and had the task of consolidating the company during the Depression years.

Closely connected with Indian cricket, Saklatwala played for the Parsees team during 1904-05, but stopped playing actively due to business pre-occupations. As a cricket player he represented the Parsees against the Europeans in 1904.

He was the first Chairman of the Cricket Club of India after its inception in 1933 till his death and was instrumental in the development of Brabourne Stadium, for which he also donated a large sum of money.

Saklatwala was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in the 1923 New Year Honours list, knighted in the 1933 Birthday Honours list and further knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1937 Coronation Honours list.