India bids farewell to Ratan Tata

India mourns the loss of Ratan Tata, a visionary business leader, as politicians, industrialists, and celebrities pay their respects.

Senior politicians, industrialists, and celebrities joined thousands of mourners, including Tata employees and regular Mumbaikars, in bidding farewell to Ratan Tata, one of India’s corporate giants, as his mortal remains were cremated with full State honours in India’s financial capital on Thursday.

Mr. Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, died late on October 9, at the age of 86.

Union Ministers Amit Shah, and Piyush Goyal; Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar; Opposition leaders Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, Uddhav Thackeray, and Raj Thackeray; industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Kumaramangalam Birla, and Harsh Goenka; Tata Group chairperson N. Chandrasekaran, and Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das were among those who paid their last tributes at the Worli crematorium and the National Centre for Performing Arts where his body was kept earlier in the day.

The industrialist’s mortal remains were brought to the crematorium in a van decorated with white flowers, while his coffin was draped in the Indian flag. Mr. Tata’s family, including his stepbrother Noel Tata, and other male members of the Parsi community wore traditional Parsi pagadis (caps), while the women wore scarves to honour him. Mumbai police paid tribute with a three-volley gun salute and a ceremonial guard of honour as part of the State respects. Several States announced a day of official mourning, including Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

“Shri Ratan Tata ji was a visionary business leader, a compassionate soul, an extraordinary human being. He provided stable leadership to one of India’s oldest and most prestigious business houses,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X. “At the same time, his contribution went far beyond the boardroom. He endeared himself to several people, thanks to his humility, kindness and unwavering commitment to making our society better.”

Follow LIVE updates from Ratan Tata’s funeral on October 10, 2024

The RBI Governor was among the first to pay homage at the NCPA lawns on Thursday morning. “I was here to pay my respects to the departed soul. There are two things that stand out about Ratan Tata – the first thing was that he was a true visionary. The second thing was that he was a strong believer in ethics in corporate governance. Whenever the economic history of modern India is written, I will feel that a full volume will not be enough to describe his achievements. A truly towering personality, a great son of India, a phenomenal person,” Mr. Das said.