Ardeshir Dalal

Who was Ardeshir Dalal?

Sir Ardeshir Dalal, KCIE, Kt. was a Parsi administrator and businessman associated with Tata Group.

Adershir was born on 24 April 1884 in Bombay to Rustomjee Dalal, who worked as share-broker. In 1905 he applied for J. N. Tata Scholarship for higher studies went to London and finally appeared for ICS examination and joined Indian Civil Service in 1908.

He served as Collector in various areas of India before he became the first Indian to become Municipal Commissioner of Bombay in 1928.

He joined Tata Group as a Director of Tata Steel in 1931 and served Tata group till 1941 and again from 1945 his death in 1949. He was knighted in 1939.

He was one of the signatories to the Bombay Plan formulated in 1944.

In June 1944, he resigned from Tatas as the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, invited him to join the Viceroy's Executive Council as Member-in-Charge of Planning and Development. His contributions as one of the architects of the Government of India's post war economic plan formulated in 1945 have been noted.

He was knighted again as a KCIE in 1946 died on 8 October 1949.

A hospital-cum-nursing college in Jamshedpur has been named after him as Ardeshir Dalal Memorial Hospital.