Tata Sons has denied reports that Group chairman Ratan Tata used terms such as "rapping India" or "warning government of inaction" in a media interview. "Tata Sons clarifies that in Ratan N Tata's interview with the Financial Times, he spoke about coherence in implementing government policies as a need, and did not use terms such as ‘lashes into the PM’, ‘rapping India’, ‘warning government of inaction’ or ‘venal business environment’…" a statement from the company said on Saturday.

"These are terms used by the publications and not by Tata, in any manner," the statement said. "Tata Sons is surprised that reputed media entities have sensationalised the observations without taking into cognisance the tone, tenor and context of the interview."

The statement said that Ratan Tata has always supported Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, even when the latter faced mass cricitism. Criticising the Prime Minister was the last thing he wanted to do, it added.

In the interview, which took place roughly three weeks before he is due to retire, Tata reportedly accused the government of failing to work as a cohesive unit.