Ratan Tata, the former Tata Group chairman, passed away at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai aged 86. Tata, who was chairman of the group for more than two decades, breathed his last at south Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital at 11.30 pm on Wednesday. Following his demise, the entire sports fraternity including Olympian medallist Neeraj Chopra and India's T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav, took to social media to pay their tributes to Ratan Tata after hearing the saddening news of his death.
In an official statement Tata Sons chair N Chandrasekaran heaped massive praises on Mr Tata, calling him a “mentor, guide and a friend.”
Educated at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, the veteran industrialist worked on the shop floor at the family-run group after returning to India in 1962. He gained experience in several Tata Group firms before being named director in charge of one of them, the National Radio and Electronics Co. in 1971.
He became chairman of Tata Industries a decade later and in 1991 took over as the chairman of the Tata Group from his uncle, JRD, who had been in charge for more than half a century.
The Maharashtra government has declared a day of mourning in the state on Thursday to pay tributes to industrialist Ratan Tata, the Chief Minister's Office said. A statement quoting CM Shinde said the national tricolour on government offices in Maharashtra will be flown at half-mast on Thursday as a sign of mourning.
Tata's mortal remains will be kept at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in south Mumbai from 10 am to 3.30 pm on Thursday for people to pay their respects. His last rites will be performed in Worli area of Mumbai later in the day.
