India’s Tata Sons said Thursday its board had voted to reappoint N. Chandrasekaran as executive chairman for another five-year term, reversing his decision last month not to seek another term.
The board’s nomination and remuneration committee asked Chandrasekaran to reconsider, citing his “contributions” to the Tata Group and its “larger interests”, Tata Sons said in a statement.
Read the full statement here:
The Board received from Tata Trusts their unanimous resolution dated July 28, 2025 expressing their appreciation of the Chairman of Tata Sons, N. Chandrasekaran (Chandra) for his stewardship of the Group from 2017 onwards. In recognition of these efforts the Tata Trusts resolved that he be re-appointed as Executive Chairman for a further term of five years upon the expiry of his current term.
Subsequently, in September 2025 the Board of Tata Sons agreed in principle to re-appoint Chandra as Executive Chairman for a further term of five years. Pursuant to applicable provisions of law, the Board decided to obtain the relevant formal approval in February 2026.
In February 2026, in the absence of unanimity, the resolution was deferred for decision. In subsequent Board meetings in May 2026 and June 2026, this matter was discussed but was not resolved.
In view of the above, on August 12, 2026, Chandra opted not to offer himself for re-appointment upon the expiry of his current term.
On September 3, 2026, the Nomination Remuneration Committee (NRC) of the Board of Tata Sons met to discuss, the aforesaid letter and discuss the issue of re-appointment of Chandra as Executive Chairman. After due deliberation and in recognition of his contributions and the larger interests of the Tata Group, the NRC unanimously resolved to request him to reconsider his decision and to recommend him for re-appointment at the next Board meeting.
At the meeting of the Board on September 17, 2026, Chandra acceded to the Board’s request to re-consider his decision. The Board thereafter resolved by a majority vote to re-appoint him as Executive Chairman for a further term of five years upon the expiry of his current tenure.
The Board also resolved to initiate steps to comply with the applicable RBI Guidelines and will seek guidance from RBI, Tata Trusts and other stakeholders on applicable compliance requirements
Noel Tata votes against the reappointment
Chandrasekaran, whose current term ends in February 2027, said last month he would not seek another term. His decision followed months of friction with Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata over the listing issue and capital allocation across the sprawling conglomerate.
The new development comes after the Reserve Bank of India last week rejected Tata Sons’ application to surrender its non-banking financial company (NBFC) registration – a decision that would revive the prospect of a stock market listing that the company has tried to avoid for more than a year, including by repaying over ₹21,000 crore in debt.
However, Noel Tata voted against the reappointment, but the resolution was carried by a majority, sources told PTI.