Ratan Tata is cremated with full state honours in Mumbai

The funeral has taken place in Mumbai of Ratan Tata, the chairman of one of India’s biggest conglomerates, Tata Group, who died on Wednesday aged 86.

Business leaders, politicians and celebrities were among thousands of people who paid their last respects at the centre where his body lay in state before being cremated.

Maharashtra state declared a day of mourning and his coffin was given a military salute as it was taken away for the funeral rites.

Ratan Tata took over as group chairman in 1991 and is credited with transforming it into a global powerhouse.

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”.