Business Archives was a relatively unknown field in India in the 1980s. In organising the Archives of a House like Tatas the Group was embarking on yet another pioneering effort.
 
In 1990, when J.R.D. Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group stated that Tatas had lost their source material on the formation of aviation in India when the airlines were nationalised in 1953, the project for setting up the Tata Central Archives (TCA) gathered momentum.

The proposal was put before the Board of Tata Sons Limited on September 5, 1990, and in January 1991, TCA was formally launched by J.R.D. Tata in Bombay.

Tata Central Archives became a Division of Tata Services Limited in 1997.

The Group Chairman, Ratan N. Tata inaugurated TCA on February 13, 2001 in Pune and the Archives was thrown open to the public on March 3, 2001.

Tata Central Archives is nestled in the midst of dense woods and the lush green surroundings of the Tata Management Training Centre Campus. The idyllic fourteen-acre plot with an environmentally friendly atmosphere provides a peaceful retreat for visitors from the hustle and bustle of urban life.

TCA facilitates access to archival material on the Tatas held at the Archives through processing and storage of records, by conveying information in the records to scholars and various Tata Companies. It also serves as a centre for research in the history of the Tata Group through the promotion and expansion of the Archive’s Collections, through various publication and outreach programmes.