Tata's body will be kept at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai before the state funeral on Thursday evening. A key road leading to the venue has been cordoned off. People will be able to pay their respects here from 10:00 to 15:30 India time (04:30-10:00GMT), senior Mumbai police official Abhinav Deshmukh told the media.

Other attendees included India's Home Minister Amit Shah, central bank governor Shaktikanta Das, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actor Aamir Khan. A licensed pilot who would occasionally fly the company plane, Tata never married and was known for his quiet demeanour, relatively modest lifestyle and philanthropic work.

It's hard to imagine many Indian households that aren't somehow touched by the $100 billion conglomerate named for the family of Ratan Tata, who died this week at the age of 86. Tata has been a mythical name in Indian consumers' imaginations for generations.