In a stock exchange announcement, Tata Steel Ltd has informed that J J Irani has stepped down from the board of the company on June 2, 2011, on reaching the age of 75 years.
Irani joined The Tata Iron and Steel Company (now Tata Steel) as assistant to the director, research and development. He was appointed general superintendent in 1978, general manager in 1979, president in 1985 and managing director in 1992.
After holding the CEO's office for almost a decade, he retired as managing director of Tata Steel in 2001. Presently, he is a director on the board of Tata Steel.
He began his career in 1963 as a senior scientific officer at BISRA, Sheffield, where he rose to the position of head, physical metallurgy division.
In 2007 he was honoured by the President of India who conferred on him the award of Padma Bhushan for his services to trade and industry in the country. Born on June 2, 1936, Irani obtained his master's degree in geology from Nagpur University in 1958. Thereafter he obtained an M.Met in 1960 and a PhD in 1963 from the University of Sheffield, UK.