"This may help some people at election time, but they do not help in creating a unified country," he said.
The former Tata Group chief, who is now Chairman of Tata Trusts, said his greatest desire is to see India as a unified and equal-opportunity nation.
"If you have the ability to study, work and rise on the basis of merit and not on the basis of who you are or how well-connected you are, that would make me very happy for our country.
"We have for political reasons carved out the country according to caste, religion and communal groups... We are now Maharashtrians, Punjabis and Tamilians rather than Indians. The day we all become Indians again, that's when the country will be strong," Tata said.
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78-year-old Tata, who retired as Chairman of Tata Sons in 2012 after being at the helm for over three decades, was replying to a question about the priority issues that he thinks India should address.
Referring to late Indira Gandhi, he said India had a woman prime minister, "but that was an exception on the rule".