Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata has opposed the reappointment of vice-chairmen Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh at Tata Education and Development Trust (TEDT), deepening divisions within the philanthropic entities that control the group.
With the latest development, at least one expert predicted that the schisms at the controlling trusts, which own nearly two-thirds of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, show no signs of ending. Most decisions of the trusts require unanimous endorsement of the trustees.
TEDT now has three trustees left: Noel, Mehli Mistry, a confidante of the late Ratan Tata, and Jehangir Nariman Mistry, a lawyer with Mulla & Mulla and Craigie Blunt & Caroe. All three voted against the reappointment of Srinivasan and Singh over the last week, according to an executive privy to the developments.
Noel’s voting against the reappointment of Srinivasan and Singh was “symbolic” as and Jehangir Mistry had already rejected their continuation. All decisions regarding the appointment, re-appointment, and removal of trustees within the Tata Trusts require unanimous approval.
For this reason, the developments at TEDT, according to the unnamed executive, mark the first public expression of Noel Tata’s dissatisfaction with the vice chairmen. This comes at a time the trustees are expected to soon assess Srinivasan’s continuation as the nominee director on the board of Tata Sons.
The eight trustees from Sir Dorabji Tata Trusts and Sir Ratan Tata Trusts are scheduled to meet on 16 May, after a previous meeting, planned for 8 May, was postponed. Mint could not ascertain why the meeting was deferred.
Srinivasan is chairman emeritus of the TVS Group and Singh a retired defence secretary.
An email sent to Tata Trusts and Noel Tata seeking comment went unanswered.
Together first, then not
Noel’s opposition to Srinivasan’s continued role at TEDL, with a corpus of about ₹6,000 crore, marks a turning point in his 19 months as chairman since 11 October 2024, two days after Ratan Tata’s death.
Initially, Noel, Srinivasan, and Singh were in agreement: the three voted against the reappointment of Mehli Mistry, in October last year, leading to his ouster as a trustee.
Differences between Noel and Srinivasan arose after Mistry’s exit. In November, Noel added his son Neville Tata and Bhaskar Bhat, former Titan Company chief executive officer (CEO), as trustees. Neville and Bhat were appointed to the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, but Srinivasan blocked their induction onto the Sir Ratan Tata Trust board. The TVS chairman emeritus had not attended the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust meeting that approved Neville and Bhat.
Disagreements persisted when Noel deferred a decision on N. Chandrasekaran’s third term as Tata Sons’ chairman in February this year, prompting the board to delay the reappointment. Mint that Noel was in favour of extending the Chandrasekharan’s term by two years, instead of five.
Srinivasan and Singh publicly supported listing Tata Sons, indicating a shift.
Supreme Court lawyer H.P. Ranina said the support of the vice chairmen to take Tata Sons public is at odds with Noel and other trustees’ views, especially because all of them had unanimously agreed in July to keep it private.
But the bigger question arising out of these differences is how the boards at at TEDL and the rest of the Tata Trusts can be expanded. “At TEDL, you have Mehli. At the rest of the trusts, you have Venu and Vijay,” Ranina pointed out. “Noel has voted against both Mehli and now against Venu and Vijay. Considering you need unanimity among trustees for induction of the board members, I believe the logjam will continue.”
Other differences, too
The differences between the trustees are notable, given last July’s unanimous agreement at Tata Trusts that Tata Sons would remain private and Chandrasekaran would serve a third term early in 2027 when his current five-year term ends.
At the Tata Sons board meeting this February, Noel at Tata companies including Tata Digital and Air India and had sought clarity on the management of these businesses. He confirmed Tata Trusts’ commitment to keeping Tata Sons private.
The reasons for Srinivasan and Singh’s recent changes in stance on Tata Sons’ future are unclear.
This April, a day before Mehli Mistry questioned the roles of Srinivasan and Singh at Tata Trusts affiliate, Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution, the CEO of Tata Trusts, Siddharth Sharma, asked both to step down from it.
Srinivasan complied, Singh did not. The situation escalated as both accused Sharma of bias, saying he withheld a 26-year-old legal opinion. Tata Trusts then issued a rare public statement in support of its CEO.
The 16 May meeting to assess Srinivasan’s continuation as Tata Trusts representative on the Tata Sons’ board comes nearly eight months after Singh’s removal as a nominee director on the group holding company in September last year. The removal was led by Mehli Mistry and three other trustees: former Citibank India CEO Pramit Jhaveri, lawyer Darius Khambata, and philanthropist Jehangir HC Jehangir.
Noel and Srinivasan had supported Singh’s continuation then.
Earlier this year, Jhaveri decided not to seek another term at the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust after his term ended on 11 February.
Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust control 51.4% of Tata Sons, while six smaller trusts own another 14.36% taking the total ownership in the apex Tata company to 65.9%.
Besides , Singh, and Srinivasan, the five trustees on the boards of the two main trusts are Khambata, Jehangir, Bhat, Neville, and Ratan Tata’s brother, Jimmy Tata.