Ratan Tata, the former chair of India’s oldest conglomerate, and of Tata Steel and Jaguar Land Rover, has died aged 86.
Tata Sons chair Natarajan Chandrasekaran confirmed Mr Tata had died and described him as his “friend, mentor, and guide” in a statement.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Mr Tata was “a visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an 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 the boardroom,” he said on X.
“He endeared himself to several people thanks to his humility, kindness and an unwavering commitment to making our society better.”
Mr Tata worked in several Tata companies, including Telco, now Tata Motors Ltd, as well as Tata Steel Ltd, before taking the helm in 1991 and running the conglomerate for more than 20 years.
In 2000 Mr Tata was given the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s most distinguished civilian awards.
He also received the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour, in 2008 for exceptional and distinguished service in trade and industry.
Tata Group, a sprawling collection of nearly 100 companies, employs more than 350,000 people worldwide.
In 2000 the group bought tea firm Tetley for $432m (£331m) and in June 2008 it bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3bn (£1.8bn).
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Ratan Tata with Jaguar’s C-X16 car in 2012. Pic: Reuters
‘He deeply cared about making India better’
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Mr Tata left behind “an extraordinary business and philanthropic legacy” and said he was “instrumental in mentoring and developing the modern business leadership in India”.
“He deeply cared about making India better,” he said.
UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds described Mr Tata as “a titan of the business world and someone who played a huge role in shaping British industry”.
Tata was integral to commercial aviation in India when it launched an airline in 1932, which later became Air India and was taken over by the government.
Tata Group then bought state-owned Air India in 2021 and started a full-service carrier, Vistara, with Singapore Airlines, which recently merged with Air India.
After stepping back from Tata Group, Mr Tata became a prominent investor in Indian startups.
