MUMBAI: It’s rare for a businessman’s demise to draw a spontaneous outpouring of emotion from the lay public. But when the person in question is visionary industrialist Ratan Tata, 86, their sense of void is quite understandable, as his work touched millions of lives. Thousands of people thronged the lawns of the National Centre for Performing Arts at Nariman Point on Thursday to pay their homage to him.
Known as much for his philanthropy as for his bold acquisitions abroad, he infused the quality of trust and integrity into the Tata brand. His people-centric approach propelled him to realise his dream of an under Rs 1 lakh car in the massy Nano. Though it failed the market test, his reputation of having his heart in the right place remained intact. Also, the Nano plant site shook up West Bengal politics like never before.
He was known to chase ideas, not wealth. Under his leadership, the salt-to-software behemoth grew more than 70 times in size.
The last rites were performed at Mumbai’s Worli Crematorium with full state honours in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, his cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, and Congress leader and former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde.
Shah stood in for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had to fly to Laos to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits.
Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra cabinet recommended to the Centre to consider honouring Ratan Tata with a posthumous Bharat Ratna. The state government as well as a few others declared a day of mourning and the national flag was flown at half-mast across government offices.
The Mumbai Police paid tribute to Tata with a gun salute. Family and friends as well as top officials of Tata group joined the ceremony.
Buzz on Noel as successor
Many consider Noel Tata, stepbrother of Ratan Tata, as the heir apparent of the Tata Group. He is a trustee in two of the most influential of these trusts — the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust