Thousands pay tribute after Ratan Tata, Indian industry legend and business icon, dies at 86

Ratan Tata, one of India’s most influential business leaders, was cremated after a state funeral in the country’s financial capital on Thursday. The veteran industrialist, former chairman of a $100-billion conglomerate Tata Group, died at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night at 86.

No cause of death was disclosed.

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, officials of the Tata Group and the local government, and Tata’s relatives were present at the funeral, where Mumbai police honored him with a ceremonial gun salute. He was later cremated in an electric crematorium.

Earlier Thursday, his body was taken to Mumbai’s National Center for the Performing Arts, where thousands of people including industrialists, state officials and some of India’s top celebrities lined up to pay their final respects to a man seen by many as an industry legend and icon.

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

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

Current Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran described Tata as his “friend, mentor, and guide.”

“With an unwavering commitment to excellence, integrity, and innovation, the Tata Group under his stewardship expanded its global footprint while always remaining true to its moral compass,” Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

Authorities in Maharashtra state, whose capital is Mumbai, declared a day of mourning on Thursday in honor of Tata, with government buildings flying the national flag at half-staff.

Tata was admitted this week to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, where he lived. The Tata Group issued a statement on Monday saying there was no cause for concern regarding his health and he was undergoing checkups for age-related medical conditions.

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said Tata leaves behind an extraordinary business and philanthropic legacy and was instrumental in mentoring and developing modern business leadership in India.

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

Cornell University, where Tata received a bachelor’s in architecture, said he was its “most generous international donor.”

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

Ratan Tata joined the Tata Group in 1961 and succeeded his uncle J.R.D. Tata as chairman after the latter’s retirement in 1991. That followed the liberalization of India’s economy in 1990, bringing massive economic reforms and global investment in the country.

Under his leadership, the conglomerate grew significantly to 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 the information technology company Tata Consultancy Services. It also expanded globally with revenue exceeding $100 billion on his retirement.

Tata Group employs more than 350,000 people worldwide with a presence in over 100 countries.

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

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

In 2008, Tata bought the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford Motor Co. for $2.3 billion. A year earlier, it took over Britain-based steelmaker Corus for $12 billion, though that deal didn’t pan out well.

Tata-owned Port Talbot steel plants in Wales lost 2,500 jobs, despite a $654-million taxpayer-backed deal with the government.

In 2009, the company surprised the automobile industry by launching Tata Nano, a tiny vehicle with a rear engine costing about 100,000 rupees (then $2,000). Ratan Tata touted the “people’s car,” as a “safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport” for millions of middle- and lower-income Indian consumers.

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

Tata was also widely known for his charitable work in multiple fields, including healthcare, education, skill development, disaster relief and rehabilitation under the Tata Trusts, India’s largest private-sector philanthropic organization, which he headed until his death.

In December 2012, Tata retired as chairman of Tata Group. He briefly served as interim chairman beginning in October 2016 following the ouster of his successor, Cyrus Mistry. He returned to retirement in 2017 when Chandrasekaran was appointed chairman of Tata Group. But he was still known as a father figure to the group.

Tata never married and is survived by two brothers and two sisters.

Sharma writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report.