Ratan Tata, the former Tata Group chairman who put a staid and sprawling Indian conglomerate on the global stage with a string of high-profile acquisitions, has died, the Tata Group said in a statement late on Wednesday. He was 86.

Ahead of a state funeral, hundreds of people including corporate leaders, politicians and celebrities gathered in India's financial hub Mumbai to pay their last respects.

Ratan Tata, the iconic Indian business tycoon and branding genius, passed away at 86. His legacy offers lessons in marketing, innovation, and social responsibility.

Ratan Tata has died at a Mumbai hospital at age 86. Tata is the former chairman of India’s oldest conglomerate Tata Sons.

Ratan Tata, the former Tata Group chairman who put a staid and sprawling Indian conglomerate on the global stage with a string of high-profile acquisitions, has died, the Tata Group said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The funeral has taken place in Mumbai of Ratan Tata, the chairman of one of India’s biggest conglomerates, Tata Group, who died on Wednesday aged 86. Business leaders, politicians and celebrities were among thousands of people who paid their last respects at the centre where his body lay in state before being cremated.

By Tanvi Mehta NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Hundreds of people, including corporate leaders, politicians and celebrities, gathered in Mumbai on Thursday to pay their last respects to one of India's most respected business tycoons,

Tycoon led one of India’s most prominent business houses for over two decades and expanded it into a global conglomerate