End of an era

Mumbai: The final rites of renowned industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata were performed with full state honours at a central Mumbai crematorium on Thursday evening. The Mumbai police paid tribute to Tata with a gun salute.

The industry titan's family members, including the half-brother Noel Tata, and top executives from the Tata Group like chairman N Chandrasekaran, were present at the crematorium in Worli. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, his Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, Congress leader and former CM Sushilkumar Shinde, among others, were present.

The last rites were performed as per the Parsi tradition, one of the priests present at the crematorium said. After the funeral, there will be three more days of rituals which will be conducted at the late industrialist's bungalow in Colaba, south Mumbai, he said.

Earlier in the day, the mortal remains of the iconic industrialist, escorted by Ratan Tata’s closest aide Shantanu Naidu, have been taken to National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) Mumbai, at 10.30 am for the public to pay their last respects.

In a statement, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said, “It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on Tata’s death. He called him “a visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being”.

Infosys founder leader Narayana Murthy said the nation has lost the ‘compassionate capitalist’ in the death of Ratan Tata. ‘Capitalist in mind, compassionate at heart,” are the words Murthy said while paying tributes to Tata. What was striking in the tributes paid by scores and scores of business tycoons to leaders from different walks of life is one thing – he created a $100-plus billion empire for the Tatas, without earning the tag of billionaire for himself.

NCP-SCP Chief Sharad Pawar and KM Birla paid their last respects to the business tycoon. Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said he was unable to accept the absence of Ratan Tata. “India’s economy stands on the cusp of a historic leap forward. And Ratan’s life and work have had much to do with our being in this position.”

Ratan Tata (86), a Padma Vibhushan recipient, died after a brief illness at a city hospital late on Wednesday night.