Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata told the Tata Sons board on Thursday that he would block any decision to list the country’s largest company by revenue and instead suggested the group’s holding company ask the Reserve Bank of India for at least three years to meet the requirements if a listing is eventually necessary.
Noel’s statement challenges Tata Sons’ claim that its board had decided to “start steps to follow the applicable RBI guidelines.”
“If I am forced to vote, then I would have no option but to veto any such decision to list,” Noel told the board, according to a statement later released by Tata Trusts. “A listing will destroy its character and strike at the heart of this principle,” Noel said.
“Turning to the 11 September 2026 communication received from the Reserve Bank of India, it is important to first understand precisely what this communication says. It records that the company’s request for voluntary surrender of its certificate of registration cannot be acceded to, and it advises the company to take necessary actions to ensure full compliance, immediately, with the guidelines and instructions applicable to a nonbanking financial company in the upper layer. It does not mention listing,” Noel told the Tata Sons board on Thursday morning.
Noel said the Tata Sons board, led by the late Ratan Tata, had “unanimously” agreed that the company would stay “unlisted.”
In March 2024, Tata Sons paid off all its separate debt of nearly ₹22,000 crore and asked to deregister as a core investment company, trying to avoid a possible public listing.
However, in a letter dated 11 September to Tata Sons’ chief financial officer Saurabh Agrawal, RBI said: “After considering the above and examining all the relevant factors, we advise that your request for voluntary surrender of CoR (certificate of registration) for being classified as unregistered CIC (core investment company) cannot be acceded to”.
“The board should therefore seek a period of not less than three years from the date of the communication (i.e. till September 2029) and should state plainly why such a period is necessary rather than merely comply,” said Tata.
The dispute played out at the same meeting where the board voted 4-1 to re-appoint Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons Chairman for five years, a resolution the Trusts, which own 65.9% of Tata Sons, have called illegal.
“As such, we advise you to take necessary actions to ensure full compliance with all guidelines/instructions, as applicable to NBFC-Upper Layer (UL) issued by the RBI, immediately,” the RBI said.
Noel Tata seeks more time
Noel said the RBI’s 11 September decision came “without warning” and asked management to update directors on the options it had considered. He also suggested that Tata Sons file a Right to Information request with the RBI for the full file and notes behind the decision.
He said chairman Chandrasekaran had assured the board in September 2025 and February 2026 that the company was taking all necessary steps to keep it private. “Today’s meeting outcome will validate if that statement was sincerely given,” he said.
“We must look forward and not back, and I intend this statement to do so. I do not propose an inquest. I propose a plan,” Noel said, asking the board of Tata Sons to seek clarification from the central bank on what basis its application was rejected, seek legal advice before eventually seeking time to go public.