In 1981 Ratan Tata became the Chairman of Tata Industries.The growth and globalisation drive of the Tata group gathers pace under his stewardship and the new millennium sees a string of high-profile Tata acquisitions, among them Tetley, Corus, Jaguar Land Rover, Brunner Mond, General Chemical Industrial Products and Daewoo. After retirement, Mr Tata has been conferred the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals.

He is the Chairman of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Allied Trusts, and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Allied Trusts. He is the Chairman of the Council of Management of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which seek to enable, empower and transform communities across India

In 2008 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest civilian honour, by the Government of India. He has also received honorary doctorates from several universities in India and overseas.