Ratan Tata, former chairman of Indian conglomerate Tata Group, has died aged 86

Thousands of people paid their last respects to Ratan Tata, former chairman of Indian conglomerate Tata Group, in India's financial capital on Thursday, before a state funeral later in the day.

The veteran industrialist, hailed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a visionary business leader, died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night. He was 86 years old.

Tata's body was taken on Thursday to Mumbai's National Center for Performing Arts, where the public, industrialists, state officials and celebrities lined up to pay their last respects.

The current chairman of the Tata Group, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, described Tata as his “friend, mentor and guide”. He did not provide a cause of death.

Tata was admitted this week to Breach Candy Hospital, in south Mumbai, the city where he lived. The Tata Group released a statement on Monday saying there was no cause for concern regarding his health and that he was being screened for age-related medical problems.

Tributes transmitted in

Prime Minister Modi described Tata as a visionary leader and an extraordinary, compassionate human being.

“He has provided stable leadership to one of India’s oldest and most prestigious business houses. At the same time, his contribution went far beyond the boardrooms,” Modi said on social media platform X.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Tata left an extraordinary business and philanthropic legacy and was instrumental in guiding and developing modern business leadership in India.

“He cared deeply about making India better,” Pichai said on X.

Cornell University, where Tata graduated in architecture, said it was the “most generous international donor.”

“We will remember his legacy of transformative giving to Cornell,” the university said in the X.

The long legacy of the Tata Group

The Tata Group is a sprawling collection of nearly 100 companies, including Tata Motors, the country's largest automaker; Tata Steel, the largest private steel company; Tata Power; and information technology company Tata Consultancy Services. They employ more than 350,000 people worldwide, with a presence in more than 100 countries.

Its products are ubiquitous in Indian homes and include daily necessities like salt, tea and mineral water.

In June 2008, Tata purchased Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3 billion. A year earlier, it acquired the British steel company Corus for 12 billion dollars. At that time, Corus' annual steel production was four times that of Tata Steel.

The Tata Group pioneered commercial aviation in India by launching an airline in 1932 that later became Air India. Later, the government took control. The Tata Group then purchased Air India from the government in 2021. It also started a full-service carrier, Vistara, with Singapore Airlines, but recently merged it with Air India.

In 2009, the company surprised the automobile industry by launching the Tata Nano, a tiny vehicle with a rear engine that cost around 100,000 rupees (US$2,000 at the time). Advertised as a “People's Car”, it had the capacity to accommodate up to five adults. Ratan Tata said at the time that it would provide a “safe, affordable, all-weather mode of transportation” for millions of low- and middle-income Indian consumers.

However, due to low sales, the company stopped production of the tiny car in 2018.

Ratan Tata joined the Tata Group in 1961 and succeeded JRD Tata as chairman upon the latter's retirement in 1991.

This followed the liberalization of India's economy in 1990, bringing huge economic reforms and global investment into the country.

In December 2012, Tata retired as chairman of the Tata Group. He briefly served as acting president from October 2016, following the removal of his successor, Cyrus Mistry. He retired again in 2017 when Chandrasekaran was appointed chairman of the Tata Group.

Tata never married and is survived by a brother, two half-sisters and a half-brother.