(New Delhi) Indian entrepreneur Ratan Tata, who transformed the group that bears his name into a global conglomerate, has died at the age of 86, the latter announced on Wednesday.
“It is with a deep sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr. Ratan Navel Tata, a truly extraordinary leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group, but also the very fabric of our nation,” he said. Tata Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran wrote in a statement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Mr. Tata a “visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being.”
Mr. Modi paid tribute to him for providing “stable leadership to one of India’s oldest and most prestigious companies”, which under his leadership became a sprawling international business ranging from software to sports cars.
Born in 1937 in Bombay, Ratan Tata wanted to become an architect and was working in the United States when his grandmother, who raised him, asked him to return home to join the family business, founded in 1868.
He cut his teeth in a Tisco workshop (now Tata Steel), near the blast furnaces, living in an apprentice hostel.
He took over the family empire in 1991, riding the wave of liberal reforms that India was then implementing.
Mr Tata’s twenty-one years at the helm of the salt-to-steel conglomerate saw the group expand to include British luxury car brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover.
The hard-core bachelor retired in 2012, but then kept an eye on his empire, even taking over the business for a few months four years later. He has since been honorary president.
Companies in the Tata empire achieved more than $165 billion in revenue in 2023-24, surpassing $365 billion in market capitalization at the end of the financial year at the end of March.
The Tata Group said its philanthropic work had “touched the lives of millions”.
“From education to healthcare, his initiatives have left a profound mark that will benefit generations to come,” he added.