Bengaluru/ Mumbai: Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata’s push for clarity on new Tata Sons businesses prompted the company's board to discuss in detail plans for aviation, batteries, electronics, semiconductors and e-commerce for the first time on Tuesday, with a plan to hold review meetings at least twice a year.
Over a six-and-a-half-hour meeting at Bombay House, the six-member Tata Sons board, including chairman N. Chandrasekaran and Noel Tata, was briefed on the businesses, with the business chiefs making individual presentations and taking questions from the board members, according to two executives.
Tata Sons’ board meeting focused solely on the details of the loss-making businesses, with no discussion of Chandrasekaran’s tenure, according to the first executive. Another board meeting on 12 June is expected to discuss the possibility of another term for Chandrasekaran, whose second five-year stint as Tata Sons chairman ends in February next year.
“Mr Tata came prepared as he was briefed by Chandra (Chandrasekaran) over the weekend,” said the first executive. “Mr Tata wants to solve the problem of these loss-making businesses. For this reason, more such review meetings are expected,” said the first executive. “Every six months, provided there is consensus,” said the executive. “This is not the last operational review.”
Air India’s outgoing chief executive officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson, Tata Electronics’ CEO Randhir Thakur, Agratas’s CEO Thomas Flack and Tata Digital’s CEO Sajith Sivanandan made presentations to the Tata Sons’ board, detailing performance, capital requirements, and the road ahead.
In addition to Tata, Harish Manwani, the chair of Tata Sons' Nomination and Remuneration Panel, was the second board member to lead the discussions.
An email sent to Tata Sons seeking comment went unanswered.
Why Tuesday's meeting matters
Since starting Tata Digital in 2019, Tata Electronics in 2020, buying Air India in 2022, and flagging off Agratas Energy business in 2023, the Tata Sons board has not discussed the progress of these businesses in detail until Tuesday, according to the second executive. Up until now, discussions at Tata Sons board meetings have centred primarily on the capital requirements of these businesses.
According to the first executive, Tata complimented Sivanandan for owning up to Tata Digital’s problems, even though he took over the business only in September last year. Chandrasekaran acknowledged problems in Tata Digital and reportedly took ‘responsibility’.
Mint could not independently ascertain the individual losses of each business or the capital infusions sought by the four privately-held businesses.
The Tata Sons board comprises Chandrasekaran, Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Group chief financial officer (CFO) Saurabh Agrawal, and independent directors Harish Manwani and Anita Marangoly George. Tata Trusts, which Noel Tata chairs, owns 65.9% of Tata Sons, with 12.87% held by a half-dozen group companies and 18.4% by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group.
Since taking over as CEO of the Tata Group in February 2017, Chandrasekaran has sought to expand the country’s largest conglomerate into new businesses. This has led Tata Sons to invest over $11 billion in Air India, Agratas, Tata Electronics and Tata Digital.
However, save for Agratas, which is still to start business, ballooning losses at Tata Digital and Air India have led some trustees of the Tata Trusts to seek clarity. It was for this reason that the board of Tata Sons, at its meeting on 24 February, deferred a decision on reappointing Chandrasekaran as chairman for five more years, following objections from Noel Tata.
Air India posted an estimated loss of nearly $3 billion in FY26, as foreign-exchange losses, airspace disruptions, and elevated fuel costs battered the Tata Group-owned airline. Tata Digital and Tata Electronics reported a loss of ₹4,610 crore and ₹70 crore, respectively, in FY25.
Tata Sons and its privately held businesses are expected to file their financial results for the year ended March 2026 in July.