Late on Sunday, Tata Trusts announced it would seek to amend an exclusionary clause in the 103-year-old Bai Hirabai Trust, a charitable entity under its control, that restricts eligibility for trustee positions to members of the Zoroastrian community. The move has put the spotlight back on long-standing disputes within the philanthropic organizations that hold a majority stake in Tata Sons.
Here is a snapshot of the simmering tensions that have gripped the House of Tata since the death of Ratan Tata on 9 October 2024.
What are the squabbles about?
Since Ratan Tata’s demise, India’s largest industrial conglomerate has seen several top-level skirmishes. First, there were simmering differences between the trustees over representatives of Tata Trusts on the board of Tata Sons not sharing information with the other trustees. This boardroom split occurred when Tata Trusts removed one of its own nominees, Vijay Singh, from the board of Tata Sons in September 2025.
Tata Trusts, which owns 65.9% of Tata Sons, can nominate up to three directors to the company’s board. Following the removal of Singh, who remains a trustee of Tata Trusts, chairman Noel Tata and vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan now serve as the two Tata Trusts nominees on the six-member board of Tata Sons.
In October, Noel Tata, Singh, and Srinivasan voted against the re-appointment of Mehli Mistry—a close confidant of the late Ratan Tata and a powerful figure within the group’s philanthropic arms—as a trustee of Tata Trusts. This move occurred despite a previous agreement in October 2024 that all trustees would be granted permanent status at the end of their tenures.
Six months after his ouster, Mistry hit back at Tata Trusts. First, in an affidavit filed on 3 April, he questioned the eligibility of vice-chairmen Singh and Srinivasan as trustees of the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution. Mistry argued that the charitable institution’s laws only allowed Parsis and Mumbai residents to continue as trustees, which made Singh and Srinivasan ineligible.
Mistry upped the ante last week, challenging his ouster from Sir Dorabji Tata Trusts (SDTT), the largest of the Tata Trusts, and requesting the appointment of an administrator to run the philanthropic entities, alleging misgovernance.
What misgovernance is Mistry alleging?
Mistry claimed that at the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the single largest shareholder of Tata Sons with a 27.98% stake, the appointment of chairman Noel Tata as a permanent trustee in January last year was not disclosed to the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner at the time.
Mistry also argued that Srinivasan was ineligible to vote on his (Mistry's) re-appointment. Citing the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, Mistry said the maximum number of perpetual trustees in the Tata Trusts could not exceed a fourth of the total number of trustees. He said this ceiling was hit when Noel Tata was re-appointed as a perpetual trustee of SDTT on 27 January 2025. Srinivasan therefore could not have been appointed as a perpetual trustee later on 18 October 2025, he argued. Noel Tata, Srinivasan, and Vijay Singh, his fellow vice-chairman of Tata Trusts, had all voted to oust Mistry from the board of Tata Trusts in October last year.
Why is Mistry challenging his ouster now?
There’s no clear answer to this yet. Mistry, who was ousted on 23 October, filed both affidavits in April. In one of them, he stated that he does not seek re-induction as a trustee of SDTT. Interestingly, Mistry's challenge to the state charity commissioner comes less than two months after Noel Tata objected to the reappointment of N Chandrasekaran for a third term as chairman of Tata Sons at the holding company’s board meeting on 24 February.
Why did Noel Tata question Chandra's reappointment?
On 24 February, Mint reported Noel Tata’s objections to Chandrasekaran’s new five-year term as chairperson. He raised two primary concerns: first, he requested a clear roadmap from Tata Sons for turning around loss-making ventures such as Air India and Tata Digital. Second, he sought an assurance from Chandrasekaran and the board that the holding company would remain a private entity.
Who are the other trustees of Tata Sons, and where do they stand?
Tata Trusts’ two largest shareholders are Sir Ratan Tata Trust (23.56%) and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (27.98%), which together own 51.54%. Smaller trusts own the remaining 14% or so, taking Tata Trusts’ total shareholding in Tata Sons to 65.9%.
In July last year, all the trustees had decided that Tata Sons would remain private. However, this month saw at least two trustees, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh, making U-turns in media interviews, advocating that Tata Sons be listed.
SRTT and SDTT, the two principal trusts, have eight trustees: chairman Noel Tata, vice-chairmen Srinivasan and Singh, Mumbai lawyer Darius Khambata, Pune philanthropist Jehangir HC Jehangir, former Tata Sons board member Bhaskar Bhat, Noel Tata’s son Neville Tata, and Ratan Tata’s brother Jimmy Tata. At present, the remaining trustees are reportedly maintaining their original stance that Tata Sons should remain a private company.
What happens next?
Tata Trusts said on Sunday it plans to amend restrictive clauses that currently limit eligibility for trustee positions at an affiliate trust to Zoroastrians. This could be a long process because amending the original trust deed will need the clearance of the state charity commissioner and a competent court.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India updated its regulations earlier this month, saying that core investment companies (CICs) with assets exceeding ₹1 trillion will now be classified as "upper-layer" entities. With assets totaling ₹1.75 trillion on a standalone basis as of March 2025, Tata Sons qualifies as an upper-layer CIC. This classification could legally mandate a public listing, though a definitive timeline for such an IPO has not yet been established.
Upcoming board meetings for Tata Trusts on 8 May and Tata Sons in June will likely determine whether the group is heading toward a peaceful resolution or if internal friction will continue to escalate.