Internal conflicts and disagreements over key decisions have led to the unexpected postponement of a Tata Trusts board meeting, raising questions about the future direction of the Tata Group.
IMAGE: Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata, right, with Tata Steel MD T V Narendran. Photograph: ANI Photo
Key Points
- Tata Trusts postponed a crucial board meeting due to internal disputes over veto power on the Tata Sons board.
- The meeting agenda included a review of Tata Trusts’ nominee directors on the Tata Sons board, potentially impacting leadership.
- Listing of Tata Sons is a contentious issue, with differing views among Tata Trusts members regarding additional funding for new ventures.
- Internal conflicts within Tata Trusts involve issues such as ‘Parsi origin’ eligibility and the status of perpetual trustees.
The 26th floor boardroom at the Cuffe Parade office of Tata Trusts in Mumbai got ready to host a crucial meeting on Friday, May 8, 2026, morning. But at 9 am, when the board meeting was scheduled to begin, the room was empty.
Some trustees, who had sought to join virtually, waited for the meeting to start. A few minutes later, a Tata Trusts executive sent out an e-mail saying the meeting had been deferred to May 16.
This came a day after the Bombay high court refused to entertain a writ petition seeking a stay on this meeting.
It’s unusual for Tata Trusts, which owns around 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons — the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate — to reschedule a meeting of this nature at the last minute, according to people in the know.
Concerns Over Veto Power
A source pointed to the “sensitive agenda” of the board meeting as a probable reason why it needed to be cancelled for the time being.
At the centre of it all is a concern around the veto power that can be used by a Tata Trusts nominee director on Tata Sons board, the source indicated. The concern flows from the May 8 meeting agenda.
As per Article 121A of Tata Sons Articles of Association, directors nominated by Tata Trusts get veto power on key board decisions, including investments and leadership changes.
The top agenda for Friday’s meeting was a review of Tata Trusts representation for nominee directors on the Tata Sons board. Currently, Tata Trusts has two nominee directors on the Tata Sons board — Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and Tata Trusts Vice-Chairman Venu Srinivasan.
The other vice-chairman of Tata Trusts — Vijay Singh — was the third nominee director on the Tata Sons board until September 2025, when he had to step down amid a clash between two camps within Tata Trusts.
If the review, as put out in the agenda, leads to Srinivasan’s exit from the Tata Sons board, Noel Tata will remain the only nominee director there.
At the last Tata Sons board meeting in February 2026, Noel Tata had raised questions over reappointment of N Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons chairman for the third term starting February 2027. The next Tata Sons board meeting is expected in June.
The Debate Over Tata Sons Listing
Another critical agenda that’s supposed to be discussed at the Tata Trusts meeting is listing of Tata Sons.
The two vice-chairmen of Tata Trusts — industrialist Venu Srinivasan and former bureaucrat Vijay Singh — recently shared their view favouring stock exchange listing of Tata Sons, citing the need for additional funds in capital-intensive new businesses that the group has ventured into.
Noel Tata is opposed to Tata Sons listing, and Tata Trusts had passed a resolution on the same a few months ago.
Divided house
Soon after the death of Ratan Tata (then chairman emeritus and Tata Trusts chairman) in October 2024, Noel Tata was appointed chairman of Tata Trusts.
Over the last several months, Tata Trusts members have been at war with each other over multiple issues, including ‘Parsi origin’ as an eligibility condition on some trusts, staying trustee in perpetuity and listing of Tata Sons.
In October 2025, Tata Trusts infighting came into public glare and senior Cabinet ministers had to step in to resolve governance issues so that the stability of the $180 billion group could be protected.
Seven months later, Tata Trusts continues to be a divided house, a source said.
RBI’s Stance on Tata Sons’ NBFC Status
Amid all the infighting at Tata Trusts, there are indications that the Reserve Bank of India may soon break its silence on the subject of Tata Sons listing.
While the RBI had mandated listing of upper layer non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) by September 2025, Tata Sons, which was categorised as an upper layer NBFC, has remained unlisted.
Tata Sons had earlier sought an exemption from the upper layer NBFC category, but there are indications from the RBI that such an exemption may not be granted.
Tata Sons has not made any recent public statement on its view on listing of the conglomerate.
The next few days leading up to May 16 — when the rescheduled Tata Trusts board meeting is expected — may be worth watching, an industry source pointed out.
Even as a stay on the May 8 meeting could not be obtained from the Bombay high court, petitioner Suresh Tulsiram Patilkhede could possibly approach a vacation bench for relief.
The petitioner’s argument is that the current composition of Sir Ratan Tata Trust (one of the two leading trusts and shareholders of Tata Sons) breaches the statutory limits introduced under the Maharashtra Public Trust Act, 2025, and hence its decisions violate the law.
In fact, Noel Tata is facing a legal scrutiny over his continuation as a perpetual trustee at Sir Ratan Tata Trust, where Jimmy Tata and Jehangir Jehangir are the other life trustees.
According to the latest regulations in the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, only 25 per cent of the trustees can be lifetime members.
As of now, there are six trustees at Sir Ratan Tata Trust, implying that only one of the perpetual trustees can retain that status.
According to some legal opinion, the oldest member — in this case Jimmy Tata, who is Ratan Tata’s brother — should ideally retain the perpetual trustee status.
