During his 20-year tenure, the conglomerate made several high-profile acquisitions, including the takeover of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus, UK-based car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, and Tetley, the world’s second-largest tea company.
Tata was born in a traditional Parsi family in 1937. He studied architecture and structural engineering at Cornell University in the US.
In 1962, he joined Tata Industries – the promoter company of the group – as an assistant and spent six months training at a company plant in Jamshedpur.
From there, he went on to work at the Tata Iron and Steel Company (now Tata Steel), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and National Radio and Electronics (Nelco).
In 1991, JRD Tata, who had led the group for over half a century, appointed Ratan Tata as his successor. “He [JRD Tata] was my greatest mentor… he was like a father and a brother to me – and not enough has been said about that,” Tata later told an interviewer.
In 2008, the Indian government awarded him the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest civilian honour.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Tata as a “visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being”.
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