Oct 9 (Reuters) - 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.

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

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.