Titan who cared about making India better: Industry captains mourn Ratan Tata’s demise

Google’s India-born chief executive Sundar Pichai recalled that his last meeting with Tata was at Google’s office where they spoke about the progress of self-driving car Waymo.

Mumbai: Industry leaders including Google’s India-born chief executive Sundar Pichai on Wednesday mourned the death of Ratan Tata, saying the veteran industrialist cared about making India better.

“He leaves an extraordinary business and philanthropic legacy and was instrumental in mentoring and developing the modern business leadership in India. He deeply cared about making India better,” Pichai said in a post on X.

Pichai recalled that his last meeting with Tata was at Google’s office where they spoke about the progress of self-driving car Waymo.

Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, said Tata’s mentorship and guidance would have been invaluable at this point when India’s economy is on the cusp of a historic leap forward.

“With him gone, all we can do is to commit to emulating his example. Because he was a businessman for whom financial wealth and success was most useful when it was put to the service of the global community,” Mahindra wrote on X.

He added that Tata will never be forgotten because “legends never die”.

RPG Enterprises’ Harsh Goenka said the “clock has stopped ticking” with the death of the “titan”.

“Tata was a beacon of integrity, ethical leadership and philanthropy, who has imprinted an indelible mark on the world of business and beyond. He will forever soar high in our memories,” he said.

Veteran banker Uday Kotak said Tata made India proud and his legacy remains in posterity.

Kiran Majumdar Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon, shared a picture of herself with Tata, calling him a “great man and a great mind”.

Tata, 86, breathed his last at a Mumbai hospital at 11.30 pm on Wednesday. He had been admitted to the hospital earlier this week.