November 26 2020: Faqir Chand Kohli fondly called the Father of Indian IT industry, passed away  today. He was 96. Straight from MIT where he did his MS, Kohli joined Tata Electric Companies in 1951 and helped to set up the load despatching system to manage the system operations. He became director of Tata Electric Companies in 1970.
He was the first CEO of TCS which pioneered India’s IT Revolution and helped the country to build the $100 billion+ IT Industry and remained with TCS till 1999.
Writes N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Son:  Mr Kohli led innovations in areas far-ranging from adult literacy, water purification, software engineering, software automation, complex-systems and cybernetics. I have had the honour and privilege of working with and learning from Mr Kohli from the day he hired me as a trainee in TCS. Despite his momentous achievements, his simplicity and thoughtfulness is a lesson for us all. His enduring optimism and his ability to make ambitious bets leave a legacy—one that has advanced a nation. I will miss him dearlyare deeply saddened by this loss and offer their sincere condolences to the family.
NASSCOM says in a statement: Mr Kohli was the visionary leader who foresaw the opportunity of India in technology services and built TCS many decades back when almost nothing existed in the tech sector in India. His leadership and passion over the decades played a key role in helping establish India as a trusted and quality partner for global corporations, evangelise the importance of technology adoption for India, push for greater research in academic institutions, bring awareness on the importance of local language and hardware industry in India.
 As Chairman of NASSCOM in 1994-95, Mr Kohli led the industry and NASSCOM to build global partnerships in key markets, showcase the opportunity for IT services from India and build a culture of collaboration in the industry members. His engagement with NASSCOM continued through the years providing guidance and support on key industry issues and opportunities.
We salute his contribution to the industry and will continue to build on his vision for the industry.