The Tata Sons board meets on Thursday with a clear split on the table— Noel Tata, representing majority shareholder Tata Trusts, against chairman N. Chandrasekaran and the board—over averting a public listing and reassessing the holding company chair’s tenure.
The meeting will have several firsts. It will be the first after Chandrasekaran decided not to seek a new term when his current one ends on 20 February. It will also be less than a week after the Reserve Bank of India ordered the holding company of India’s largest group to list on the stock market.
Tata, who has been outspoken in recent board meetings, is expected to share the Trusts’ views as he did on 24 February when he objected to Chandrasekaran’s reappointment, according to two executives familiar with the situation. He may oppose any proposal to consider another term for Chandrasekaran, just as he did at the last Tata Sons board meeting on 24 February, a senior Tata Group executive said.
When Mint asked Tata Trusts for a response on the possibility of an extension for Chandrasekaran, a spokesperson was unequivocal: “Please note that there is no change in the stand taken by SDTT (Sir Dorabji Tata Trust) in its board meeting held on 13th August 2026, respecting the decision of Mr Chandrasekaran to not offer himself for reappointment and seeking initiation of steps for appointment of a new chairman, as communicated by the SDTT to the company secretary, Tata Sons on the same day”.
“This decision of SDTT was also supported by all the other shareholding Trusts which met subsequently on that day. As far as the Trusts are concerned, the chairman, Tata Sons, has conveyed his decision to the board and the public at large, and this has been accepted and acted upon by the majority shareholders.”
What could complicate matters is the position of Venu Srinivasan, Trusts’ nominee on Tata Sons board, who has publicly supported listing Tata Sons. According to the executive cited earlier, Srinivasan, a member of Tata Sons Nomination and Remuneration Panel (NRC), also favours a third term of at least two more years for Chandrasekaran. Harish Manwani heads the four-member NRC, which includes Chandrasekaran, Srinivasan and independent director Anita Marangoly George.
An email sent to Tata Sons seeking comment went unanswered.
Abrupt exit
The six Tata Sons directors were unaware of Chandrasekaran’s exit plan until late; the chairman briefed the board just half an hour before mailing in his one-page bombshell and releasing it to the media, the executive cited above said.
Less than 24 hours later, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the largest shareholder of Tata Sons, accepted Chandrasekaran’s decision, wished him well, and kickstarted the search for a successor by announcing a five-member panel.
All six trustees of SDTT, including Noel, TVS chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan, retired defence secretary Vijay Singh, lawyer Darius Khambata, Noel’s son Neville Tata, and former Company CEO Bhaskar Bhat, unanimously approved accepting Chandrasekaran’s decision, according to two executives.
“Tata Sons chair, who is also the MD, reports to the board of Tata Sons. Without telling the board first, the chairman and MD wrote that he does not want to continue after his term ends,” the executive cited earlier said, saying such action poses risks for any company.
“Since then, Tata Sons board has not had any meeting to decide on who will take over. Now, after the RBI order asking Tata Sons to follow the rules, some board members want the chairman to continue because they say things have changed,” said the executive.
This ongoing disagreement at the House of Tata shows the growing split between trustees at , which owns 65.9% of Tata Sons. It has unfolded slowly over the last two years since Noel became chairman of the charitable groups on 11 October, 2024, two days after the death of his half-brother, Ratan Tata, on 9 October.
For 15 months, it seemed that Noel and the two Tata Trusts vice-chairmen Srinivasan and Singh were united. Although a fourth trustee, Mehli Mistry, along with three other Trustees, managed to get Singh removed as the third representative from the Tata Sons board in September last year, the three trustees rejected Mistry’s reappointment just a month later. In the following month, Srinivasan opposed adding Noel’s son to the board of Sir Ratan Tata Trust, a second main trust.
The split widened in February, when Noel opposed giving a third, five-year term, which was okayed by Tata Trusts just a few months earlier. Srinivasan and Singh then publicly reversed their earlier position on keeping Tata Sons private. Later, Srinivasan complained to the Maharashtra charity commissioner that the number of permanent trustees at SRTT exceeded what the new rules allowed. At the same time, Singh wanted the regulator to investigate alleged wrongdoing in a 37-year-old share deal at a small trust linked to SRTT.
These complaints caused the Maharashtra charity commissioner to stop SRTT from holding board meetings or making official decisions. SRTT can proceed with setting up a chairman selection panel only after receiving clearance to convene its board.
However, ’ efforts to find a new chairman for Tata Sons are still stuck because SRTT cannot work with SDTT to choose three members together for the five-member selection panel.
Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of proxy advisory firm InGovern Research Services, wrote that Thursday’s board meeting should address, among other things, RBI’s directive and “leadership continuity and succession”. “Potential investors will seek confidence in the continuity of management, strategy and execution. The board should provide a clear roadmap rather than allow leadership uncertainty to coincide with the listing process,” Subramanian wrote in a note on Wednesday.
On Thursday, in the boardroom on the fourth floor of Bombay House, Noel Tata’s main concern will be safeguarding his family legacy and the ’s distinctive nature as a philanthropic trust-owned entity, in a room where Jamshetji Tata’s bust observes the proceedings from a corner.