Obituary – Honorary Fellow Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata, one of India’s best known business leaders and Honorary Fellow of the Institution, has died aged 86.

Former Tata Group chairman, Ratan Tata is credited with transforming Tata Group into a global conglomerate.

Ratan Tata was elected as an Honorary Fellow in recognition of his contribution to engineering and innovation.

IMechE President Clive Hickman OBE, whose career included roles as Chief Executive of Tata Motors European Technical Centre and Engineering Director of Tata Motors, said:

“I am so sorry to hear about the death of my friend, my mentor. He changed the world of manufacturing, and I was privileged to be a small part of that. My prayers are with him, his family and the international engineering community.”

Ratan Tata joined the family business in 1962, working on the Tata Steel shopfloor at Jamshedpur, just one of several thousand employees.

In 1991 he was appointed as the chairman of the Tata Group. Under his stewardship, Tata Tea acquired Tetley; Tata motors acquired Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel acquired Corus; which turned Tata from a largely India-centric company into a global business, with 65% revenues coming from abroad.

He also pushed the development of the Tata Indica and the Tata Nano, an ultra-low cost car which allowed millions of Indians to enter the automotive market.

In 2014, Britain awarded Tata an honorary knighthood for his contribution to relations with India, investment in the UK and philanthropy.

He has received honorary doctorates from several universities in India and overseas.