Industry titan Ratan Tata, who died at the age of 86 in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday, will be cremated with full state honours.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also announced a day of mourning on Thursday to honour the legendary industrialist and philanthropist.
The national flag will be flown at half-mast across government offices in Maharashtra as a mark of respect. Many events scheduled for Thursday have been cancelled.
Ratan Tata’s body will be kept at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai’s Nariman Point from 10 am to 4 pm today, where people can pay their last respects.
The cremation will take place at the Worli area later in the day.
Home Minister Amit Shah will attend the funeral as Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Laos to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits.
Although he controlled over 30 companies operating in more than 100 countries across six continents, Mr Tata lived an unassuming life. Despite his vast influence and success, he never appeared on lists of billionaires and remained a figure of quiet integrity and decency.
Born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai, Tata hailed from one of India’s most illustrious business families.
He was the great-grandson of Jamsetji Tata, the founder of Tata Group, a company that began as a modest trading firm in 1868 but would grow into a business empire spanning industries as diverse as steel, salt, automobiles, software, and even airlines.
Tata’s early life was shaped by his exposure to both privilege and hardship. He was raised by his grandmother, Lady Navajbai Tata, after his parents separated when he was a child.
He attended the prestigious Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai before moving to the US for higher education. Mr Tata studied at Cornell University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture in 1962.