FC Kohli, father of Indian IT industry, passes away

FC Kohli, who is considered as the father of Indian IT industry, is no more. Kohli passed away at the age of 96.

A veteran in the Tata Group, he was the founder and first CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Also read — F C Kohli, doyen of IT industry, fades into history

Kohli had served as director of the board of Tata Sons Ltd, Tata Industries Ltd, Tata Unisys Ltd, Tata Electric Company, Tata Honeywell Limited, Bradma of India Limited, Airline Financial Support Services India Private Ltd, Tata Technologies Limited Singapore, Investor Services of India Ltd, Triveni Engineering Works, Abacus Distribution Systems and Airline Software Development Consultancy India Private Limited. He was also he chairman of Tata Elxsi India Ltd and WTI Advanced Technology Ltd.

Kohli was among the board of directors of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) from 1973–74 and was the chairman of the Indian Council. He was the former president of the Computer Society of India and was the chairman of the Southeast Asia Regional Computer Conference held at Singapore in 1976 and chairman of the apex committee of the Southeast Asia Regional Computer Conference held at New Delhi in 1988.

He was also president of the Management Consultants Association of India for the year 1975–76. For 1975–77, he was the chairman of the Institutions of Electrical Engineers Bombay. In 1989, he was appointed adviser to the South east Asia Regional Computer Confederation. He was president of NASSCOM from 1995–96.

“The passing of FC Kohli is a sad event for all of us. He strode the technology world like a colossus for decades. And he and his wife Swarn have been mentors for Uma and me for many years ! RIP Bhishma Pitamah,” tweeted Ganesh Natarajan.