The father of the Indian IT industry Faqir Chand Kohli, the founder and first CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), died at the age of 96. FC Kohli pioneered India’s ‘Technology Revolution’ and helped the country build the $100 billion IT industry as the first CEO of TCS. Later, Kohli worked on an adult literacy programme to teach people who have never been educated.
Founder Chairman of Wipro Ltd Azim Premji said, “Mr. Kohli was the true pioneer of Indian IT. We have all followed in his footsteps. His contribution to the IT industry and thus to India is immeasurable.”
“Mr. F C Kohli laid the foundation for a strong TCS. I had the privilege of working with him on the NASSCOM Executive Council during the early nineties. I pray that his soul rests in peace,” Narayana Murthy said.
“Sad day for Indian IT. He was not just the 1st CEO of TCS but someone who laid the foundation of India’s greatest growth story. Go in peace, Kohli sir. You leave behind a great legacy #FCKohli,” CP Gurnani, CEO and MD of Tech Mahindra, tweeted.
Widely recognised as the brilliant technocrat parachuted in from the Tata Electric Companies, Kohli was actively involved in the decision to bring IBM to India as part of Tata-IBM in 1991. This was part of the joint-venture for hardware manufacturing and support in India initiative.
Kohli joined Tata Electric Companies in 1951 and helped set up the load despatching system to manage the system operations. Following this, he became the director of the company in 1970 and was appointed as the first CEO of TCS later. He retired in 1999 at the age of 75