Ratan Tata, former chairman of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group, has died at the age of 86

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

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

Tata's body was taken to the National Center for Performing Arts in Mumbai on Thursday, where the public, industrialists, government 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 the cause of death.

Dad was admitted this week to Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai, the city where he lived. On Monday, the Tata Group issued a statement saying there was no reason to worry about his health and he was undergoing check-ups for age-related conditions.

Tributes are pouring in

Prime Minister Modi described Tata as a visionary leader and a compassionate and extraordinary man.

“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 the X social media platform.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Tata left behind a remarkable business and philanthropic legacy and played a key role in mentoring and developing modern business leadership in India.

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

Cornell University, where Tata earned his bachelor's degree in architecture, said it was the nation's “most generous international donor.”

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

The long legacy of the Tata Group

The Tata Group is a sprawling group of nearly 100 companies including Tata Motors, the country's largest car manufacturer; Tata Steel, the largest private steel company; Dad's Power; and IT company Tata Consultancy Services. They employ over 350,000 people around the world and are present in over 100 countries.

Its products are ubiquitous in Indian homes and include everyday items such as salt, tea and mineral water.

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

The Tata Group pioneered commercial aviation in India, launching the airline in 1932 that later became Air India. Later the government took it over. Then in 2021, the Tata Group bought Air India from the government. It also launched full-service carrier Vistara from Singapore Airlines but recently merged it with Air India.

In 2009, the company surprised the auto industry by launching the Tata Nano, a tiny rear-engine vehicle costing around 100,000 rupees (US$2,000 at the time). Advertised as a “people's car”, it could seat up to five adults. Ratan Tata said at the time that it would provide a “safe, affordable, all-weather mode of transport” to millions of middle- and lower-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 after the latter's retirement in 1991.

This followed the liberalization of India's economy in 1990, which brought massive economic reforms and global investment to the country.

In December 2012, Tata retired as chairman of the Tata Group. He briefly served as interim chairman starting in October 2016, after the ouster of his successor, Cyrus Mistry. He came back from retirement in 2017 when Chandrasekaran was appointed chairman of the Tata Group.

Dad never married and left behind a brother, two half-sisters and a half-brother.