- Safiu Kehinde
The Founder of Tata Motors, Ratan Tata, has died at the age of 86.
The Indian industrialist’s death was announced late Wednesday by Tata Group.
Prior to his death, the 86-year-old industrialist and the company’s former Chairman, was reportedly rushed to hospital in the early hours of Monday.
According to reports, sources from the hospital have confirmed that Tata suffered significant drop in his blood pressure.
Renown for transforming the company into a multinational conglomerate, Ratan Tata’s demise appeared to be a great loss for India as the country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, mourned over his death.
Modi called Tata “a visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being”.
The prime minister praised Tata for providing “stable leadership to one of India’s oldest and most prestigious business houses”.
He said he was “extremely pained” by Tata’s passing and offered his condolences to Tata’s friends and family, in a post on X.
Similarly, Tata Group Chairman, Chandrasekaran, grieved over Ratan’s death.
“It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation,” Chandrasekaran said in a statement.
“I extend our condolences to his loved ones. His legacy will continue to inspire us as we strive to uphold the principles he so passionately championed.” He added.
Ratan Tata was born in 1937 in Bombay, now Mumbai. He initially planned to be an architect and was working in the United States when his grandmother — who raised him — asked him to return home and join the sprawling family business.
He started out in 1962 at TISCO, now known as Tata, staying in a hostel for apprentices and working on the shop floor near blast furnaces.
He took over the family’s business in 1991, riding the wave of the radical free-market reforms India had just unleashed that year.
Tata’s 21 years at its helm saw the salt-to-steel conglomerate expand its global footprint to include British luxury brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover.