"Will always remain respected name for values he exemplified": Jairam Ramesh condoles demise of Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons, passed away on Wednesday at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.

"For four decades, Ratan Tata was the gentle colossus of India's corporate world who made the Tata conglomerate ready for a post-1991 India. It was not easy because he was surrounded by legends themselves when he succeeded JRD Tata, but he prevailed by his vision, resolve, and grit," the Congress leader posted on X.

"He had a stellar global reputation and was actually more than a business leader. He was a philanthropist in the finest traditions set by the great JN Tata himself at the turn of the century, and carried forward magnificently by his successors," he added.

Recalling his first meeting with Ratan Tata, the Congress leader said that he first got to know the veteran industrialist when he was in the Ministry of Industry and Ratan Tata had come to present a 20-year strategic plan for the Tata Group.

"I first got to know Ratan Tata well in September 1985, when I was in the Ministry of Industry and he had come with a team to present a 20-year strategic plan for the Tata Group which would be supported by the Govt. of India. This was one of Rajiv Gandhi's new ideas for industrial policy," he said.

Jairam Ramesh said that Ratan Tata was soft-spoken and self-effacing but was a man of firm convictions. He also had a fine sense of fun and humour.

"I had subsequently kept in touch with him every now and then. Ratan was tickled to know that my study abroad in the mid-1970s was funded in part by the JN Tata Loan Scholarship and never let me forget that. He was soft-spoken and self-effacing but was a man of firm convictions. He always appeared serious but he also had a fine sense of fun and humour," he said.

"He will forever remain a very respected and celebrated name in India's economic history, especially for the values he exemplified and championed," the Congress leader added.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also offered condolences on the demise of veteran industrialist Ratan Tata who passed away on Wednesday, calling it "the end of an era."

Jaishankar stated that Ratan Tata was deeply associated with the modernisation of Indian industry and globalisation. He also recalled his interactions with the business tycoon.

In a post on X, he stated, "The passing away of Ratan Tata is the end of an era. He was deeply associated with the modernisation of Indian industry. And even more so with its globalisation. Was my privilege to have interacted with him on numerous occasions. And benefitted from his vision and insights. Join the nation in mourning his demise. Om shanti."

Ratan Tata was among India's most respected and loved industrialists, who took Tata Group to new heights and touched the fabric of the nation through his contributions across different areas including philanthropy.

Tata, born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai, is the Chairman of Ratan Tata Trust and Dorabji Tata Trust, two of the largest private-sector-promoted philanthropic trusts in India.

Ratan Tata was the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, from 1991 until his retirement in 2012. Then, he was appointed Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons. He was honoured with the country's second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2008. (ANI)