Tata Sons board defers decision on third term for chairman Chandrasekaran

The board of Tata Sons on Tuesday deferred a decision on reappointing N. Chandrasekaran as chairman for five more years after objections from Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, two executives aware of the matter said. The development signals continuing tensions at Tata Trusts that are casting a shadow over the Tata Sons board, given that two of the Trusts had earlier greenlit a third term for Chandrasekaran at the helm of India's largest conglomerate.

Noel Tata, who arrived at Bombay House with son Neville Tata, pointed to losses at several Tata Group companies including Tata Digital and Air India, and sought clarity on the management of these businesses, one of the two executives said on the condition of anonymity. At a three-hour meeting, he also requested Chandrasekaran’s views on discussions with the Reserve Bank of India on keeping Tata Sons private.

Noel Tata's concerns mark a rare instance of dissent since he became the Tata Trusts representative on the Tata Sons board in October 2024. The Tata Sons board comprises Chandrasekaran, Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Group CFO Saurabh Agrawal, and independent directors Harish Manwani and Anita Marangoly George.

Emails and text messages sent to Tata Sons and Noel Tata seeking comment remained unanswered.

As early as July 2025, the two principal entities of the Tata Trusts—Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT)—had approved a third term for Chandrasekaran, who became chairman of the group holding company in February 2017. The trustees had even agreed to relax the retirement age criterion for Chandrasekaran to allow him to continue beyond his 65th birthday. The current term of Chandrasekaran, who turns 63 in June, lasts until February 2027, but Tata Sons had expected an early renewal.

Noel's son Neville Tata is a member of the board of SDTT, the largest Tata philanthropic entity owning 27.98% of Tata Sons. While Neville and former board member Bhaskar Bhat were inducted into SDTT in November, their induction into the Sir Ratan Tata Trusts (SRTT) has been delayed due to objections from Venu Srinivasan and other trustees, Mint reported earlier. Srinivasan had noted that the resolution was not on the board meeting agenda of SRTT and required further discussion. Consequently, two SRTT board meetings have been cancelled over the last three months due to a lack of consensus.

Noel Tata was named chairman of Tata Trusts after the demise of Ratan Tata, who exercised complete sway over the Tata Group through his leadership of Tata Trusts and Tata Sons. However, differences began to manifest soon after Noel's elevation, leading to the exit of Mehli Mistry as a trustee late last year. According to the executive cited above, unlike the late tycoon who held a firm grip over the conglomerate, it's still a work in progress for Noel. Many at Tata Sons had viewed Mehli Mistry's exit from the two key Trusts late last year as a plus for Chandrasekaran in wielding influence over Tata Sons and Tata Trusts, the executive cited earlier said.

The hurdle to Chandrasekaran's reappointment is reminiscent of the objections to Neville Tata's joining SRTT, indicating there continues to be a thrust-and-parry in the Tata Trusts and at Tata Sons. However, unlike Neville, Chandrasekaran remains at the helm of Tata Sons until the end of February 2027.

Moves to induct senior executives from Tata Group operating companies to the Tata Sons board have faced opposition from both Noel's and Chandrasekaran's camps. Tuesday's developments have spilt the differences to the public domain.

On 28 July last year, the board of SRTT had passed a resolution, urging the Tata Sons chairman "to exercise best endeavours" to ensure that Tata Sons remains an unlisted private company, and that Tata Sons "fully engages" with the RBI on this matter.

Meanwhile, Tata Sons has invested over $11 billion in Air India, Tata Digital and Tata Electronics since its foray into aviation, e-commerce and assembling iPhones for Apple, according to a Mint review of the financials of the three privately held companies. Air India, which ended with ₹78,636 crore in revenue last year, posted a loss of ₹10,895 crore - the highest among all companies inside the Tata Group. Tata Digital and Tata Electronics reported a loss of ₹4,610 crore and ₹70 crore, respectively.

Tata Trusts is an umbrella entity comprising 15 philanthropic entities, seven of which hold shares in Tata Sons. SDTT and SRTT are the largest, owning 27.98% and 23.56% of Tata Sons, respectively, as of 31 March 2025. JRD Tata Trust owns 4.01%, while Tata Education Trust and Tata Social Welfare Trust own 3.73%. MK Tata Trust owns 0.6% and Sarvajanik Seva Trust owns 0.1%. Shapoorji Pallonji Group owns 18.38% in Tata Sons, nine Tata Group companies own 12.86%, and seven individuals own the remaining 2.87%.

Noel has previously expressed his reservations about the structure of Tata Sons. In September last year, Mint reported that Noel had discussed a potential new leadership structure for Tata Sons with a few trustees, but the plan stalled after resistance from some of them, a person aware of the matter said. In private conversations, Noel Tata floated the idea of having separate roles of chairman, chief executive officer and managing director (CEO and MD) and deputy CEO for Tata Sons, Mint reported, citing people privy to the discussions.

The genesis of the tussle within the House of Tata dates back to October 2024, according to minutes of the 11 September 2025 Tata Trusts board meeting, reported by Mint on 24 September last year. At least four Tata Trusts board members in the past had expressed their unhappiness that the three Tata Trusts nominees on the board of Tata Sons did not share information with them. This led to the removal of former defence secretary Vijay Singh, a Tata Trusts nominee, from the board of Tata Sons in September 2025. Mehli Mistry exited Tata Trusts in late 2025 after his reappointment was blocked by a group of trustees led by Noel Tata. Despite initially being considered for a lifetime position after joining in 2022, his 3-year term ended on 27 October 2025, due to internal disagreements.

In November, Tata Trusts inducted Neville and Bhat on SDTT. In February, former Citibank India head Pramit Jhaveri stepped down as a Trustee and did not seek a fresh term.

All of this was seen as part of Noel Tata's efforts to assert his control over the Tata Trusts. Tuesday’s development suggests that Noel has started to exercise his control over Tata Sons, the holding company of the $300 billion Tata Group.