He was chairman for more than two decades from 1991…
Ratan Tata, the businessman of India's oldest conglomerates who transformed the business into a global empire, died at the age of 86.
His death was announced in a statement by Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, who said Tata was "a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation."
As chairman for over two decades from 1991, Tata rapidly expanded the 156-year-old business house.
It now has operations in more than 100 countries and clocked $165 billion in revenue for the year ended March 2024.
Through more than two dozen listed firms, the conglomerate makes products ranging from coffee and cars to salt and software, runs airlines, and introduced India's first super app.
It has partnered with Taiwan's Power Chip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. for a $11 billion chip fabrication plant in India. It is said to be planning an iPhone assembly plant.
Under Tata's stewardship, He embarked on an expansion drive that turned the tables on India's colonial past.
It snapped up iconic British assets including steelmaker Corus Group Plc. in 2007 and luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover in 2008.
"Ratan Tata imagined big and took the empire beyond India," said Kavil Ramachandran, executive director of the Thomas Schmidheiny Center for Family Enterprise at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. "While he thought globally, these turned out to be hasty initiatives."
Edited By: Tanvi Walia
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