Industry giant Ratan Tata will be cremated with full state honours after passing away on Wednesday at the age of 86 in a Mumbai hospital. In addition, Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, declared a day of mourning for the renowned philanthropist and industrialist on Thursday.
As a sign of respect, all Maharashtra government offices will fly the national flag at half mast. Numerous Thursday-related events have been cancelled.
Today from 10 am to 4 pm, Ratan Tata’s body will be on display at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai’s Nariman Point, where visitors can pay their final respects. Later in the day, the cremation will happen in the Worli neighbourhood. Home Minister Amit Shah will attend the funeral as Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Laos to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits.
With his passing, Mr. Tata has brought an end to a chapter in Indian corporate history, one in which he transformed the industrial landscape of his nation and turned his family-run conglomerate into a major player on the world stage.
Mr. Tata led an ordinary existence despite controlling over thirty firms that operated in more than 100 countries on six continents. He never made it onto lists of billionaires and continued to be regarded as a man of modest integrity and decency despite his enormous impact and accomplishment.
Born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai, Mr Tata hailed from one of India’s most illustrious business families. He was the great-grandson of Jamsetji Tata, the man who founded the Tata Group, a conglomerate that started out as a small trade concern in 1868 and eventually expanded into an empire that included software, steel, salt, cars, and even aeroplanes.
Mr. Tata’s early experiences with both luxury and adversity influenced him. When he was a little boy, his parents divorced, and he was reared by his grandmother, Lady Navajbai Tata. Before going to the US for further study, he attended the esteemed Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. After attending Cornell University, Mr. Tata graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.
Later, he enrolled in Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, but after returning to India in the early 1960s to work in the family business, his ambition to pursue an architectural career was shelved.
He was employed at Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur factory on the shop floor. This hands-on approach to learning would define much of his leadership style in the future.
In 1971, he was appointed director-in-charge of National Radio and Electronics Company (Nelco), a struggling subsidiary of the Tata Group. However, despite his best efforts, the company’s fortunes could not be turned around in the economic environment of the 1970s.
In 1991, Mr Tata succeeded his legendary uncle, JRD. Tata, as chairman of the Tata Group. JRD, who had led the conglomerate for over 50 years, was a towering figure, and Mr Tata faced scepticism from within and outside the organisation. However, he soon proved his doubters wrong.
1991 was also the year when India opened its economy through liberalisation, moving away from its protectionist policies. Mr Tata seized this moment to lead Tata Group into a new era. Under his leadership, the group embraced global expansion, technological innovation, and modern management practices.
In 2000, Mr Tata made headlines with the $431.3 million acquisition of the British tea company, Tetley Tea, marking the group’s first major international acquisition. Tata’s next big bet came in 2004 when the group acquired Daewoo Motors’ truck manufacturing operations in South Korea for $102 million. However, the jewel in Tata’s crown was the acquisition of the Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus Group in 2007. This deal, valued at $11.3 billion, was one of the largest overseas acquisitions by an Indian company and made Tata Steel the fifth-largest steelmaker in the world.
In 2008, Tata Motors made another historic acquisition, buying the iconic British luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) from Ford Motor Company for $2.3 billion. At the time, JLR was struggling, but under Mr Tata’s stewardship, it experienced a renaissance, becoming one of the most profitable divisions of the Tata Group.
One of Mr Tata’s most personal projects was the Tata Nano, a small car designed to make automobile ownership affordable for millions of Indians. Unveiled in 2008, the Nano was dubbed “the people’s car” and was priced at just Rs 1 lakh, making it the cheapest car in the world.
While Ratan Tata was a giant in the business world, he was equally revered for his philanthropy. His philanthropic efforts were largely channelled through the Tata Trusts, a set of charitable organisations established by his great-grandfather Jamsetji Tata. These trusts control a majority of the shares in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, ensuring that much of the company’s wealth is used for social good.
Mr Tata, who took over the reins of the Tata Group in 1991, was instrumental in the conglomerate’s acquisition of international firms such as Corus and Jaguar Land Rover. He expanded the group’s influence across multiple sectors, from steel and automotive to information technology. A Padma Vibhushan laureate, Mr. Tata resigned in 2012, although he stayed involved in philanthropy and continued to lead the organisation.
Following his resignation as chairman of Tata Sons in 2012, Mr. Tata continued to be actively involved in start-up investments and mentorship of upcoming business owners. Mr. Tata has backed over 30 start-ups, including Lenskart, Ola Electric, and Paytm, through his investment business RNT Capital Advisors.
People all throughout the nation have expressed their sorrow and gratitude for him after his passing. Mr. Tata was a kind man and a visionary businessman, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prominent businessmen Anand Mahindra, Sundar Pichai, and Gautam Adani also expressed their condolences.
