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Ratan Tata, who ran the conglomerate for more than 20 years as chairman, had been undergoing intensive care in hospital.

He became chairman of the Tata Sons, the autos-to-steel conglomerate, in 1991 and ran the group founded by his great-grandfather more than a hundred years ago until 2012.

He founded telecommunications company Tata Teleservices in 1996 and made IT company Tata Consultancy Services public in 2004.

After stepping down, Ratan Tata was conferred with the title of chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, and Tata Chemicals, the company website says.

On graduating with a degree in architecture at Cornell University, US, he returned to India and in 1962 began working for the group his great-grandfather.

He worked in several Tata companies, including Telco, now Tata Motors Ltd as well as Tata Steel Ltd and later made his mark by erasing losses and increasing market share at group unit National Radio And Electronics Company.

In 1991, Ratan Tata took charge of the conglomerate when his uncle JRD Tata stepped down with the change of guard coming at a time when India embarked on radical economic reforms opening up to the world.

The Tata group purchased British tea firm Tetley in 2000 for $432 million and Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2007 for $13 billion, at the time the biggest takeover of a foreign firm by an Indian company.

Tata Motors then acquired British luxury auto brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company in 2008 for $2.3 billion.