The months-long, two-pronged dispute at Tata Sons took a new turn on Thursday as the company board announced a major decision that the chairman of Tata Trusts, which owns 66 per cent of the company, called illegal.
Overtly, at the nub of the day’s conflict was whether or not N Chandrasekaran, 63, continues as executive chairman of Tata Sons. The controversy involves at least one more thorny issue: whether Tata Sons, the private holding company of Tata companies that span dozens of sectors and industries, should be listed on the stock market, changing its century-old manner of functioning.
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In the latest, the Tata Sons board said after the September 17 meeting that it reappointed Chandrasekaran for five more years “by a majority vote“. It also resolved to initiate steps to comply with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, apparently towards the company going public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares.
“The Page Has Turned”: Noel Tata’s Stance
But Noel Tata, who chairs the Trusts, called the reappointment “illegal” and said he voted against the move. He spoke passionately against any public listing too, arguing that such a thing would change the character of the private company that has a unique philanthropic model. He also invoked the late Ratan Tata.
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First, on the chairmanship specifically, Noel Tata said two main things, via a Tata Trusts statement and a letter he submitted to the board. He cited chairman Chandrasekaran’s own earlier decision last month not to seek another term after his current term ends in February 2027. Speaking about Chandrasekaran’s letter of August 12, 2026, Noel Tata said, “The Group’s employees, its lenders, its counterparties and the market have all proceeded upon it. So, has the majority shareholder. The page has turned.”
The board has six members, including chairman Chandrasekaran, and at least two of those are nominated by Tata Trusts as it owns two-thirds of the company.
As his second argument, Noel Tata cited a legal point. He asserted that the process for appointing a chairman requires a majority of the Tata Trusts’ nominee directors on the Tata Sons board voting in favour of the resolution.
“Given that Mr Noel Tata, being one of the Trust nominee directors, voted against the proposal, it was rendered legally void and without any basis,” the Tata Trusts statement read. The other nominee director from Tata Trusts is its vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan, who apparently voted in favour of the proposals. That means the two directors nominated by Tata Trusts did not agree on key decisions about Tata Sons.
Chairmanship Question Lingers
This adds to the lack of clarity on whether or not Chandrasekaran will be chairman after his current term ends in February next year. The short timeline this year is as follows:
- The chairmanship question has remained thorny at least since February, when the board deferred a reappointment resolution “in the absence of unanimity”.
- By August, Chandrasekaran said he won’t seek reappointment. Tata Sons also adjourned its annual general meeting scheduled days after.
- At the meeting on Thursday, September 17, that changed. “Chandra acceded to the Board’s request to re-consider his decision”, Tata Sons said, adding, “The Board thereafter resolved by a majority vote to re-appoint him as Executive Chairman for a further term of five years upon the expiry of his current tenure.”
But a lot has happened before that too.
The Tata Sons statement appeared to imply that there wasn’t always an issue over Chandrasekaran. He became chairman of Tata Sons in February 2017, succeeding Ratan Tata, and was reappointed for a second term in 2022.
Last year, on July 28, majority shareholder Tata Trusts called for another term for Chandrasekaran, as per the Tata Sons statement. In September 2025, the Tata Sons board therefore “agreed in principle” to reappoint Chandrasekaran.
The reappointment did not follow immediately. Things appeared to have turned. “In February 2026, in the absence of unanimity, the resolution [on another term for Chandrasekaran] was deferred for decision. In subsequent Board meetings in May 2026 and June 2026, this matter was discussed but was not resolved,” the Tata Sons statement said. At a meeting in May, Noel Tata raised concerns about losses at some businesses, including Air India and BigBasket, NDTV reported.
Chandrasekaran then dropped a bombshell last month. “It has been six months since the matter of my reappointment was first discussed by the Board and no resolution has been reached till date,” he said in his August 12 statement about not wanting another term.
On September 3, the board’s Nomination (and) Remuneration Committee “unanimously resolved to request him to reconsider his decision and to recommend him for re-appointment at the next Board meeting”, Tata Sons said. That board meeting took place on September 17, where the board said it okayed his reappointment, but Noel Tata said it’s illegal.
Public Row Over Listing Issue
That’s not the only issue, as the stock-market listing question also came to a head last week.
Many of the individual Tata companies are listed already, but Tata Sons remains private. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has classified it as an ‘Upper Layer’ Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), which mandates a public listing to ensure systemic transparency.
On September 11, the regulatory bank rejected Tata Sons’ application to surrender its core investment company registration; that simply meant the company could no longer avoid a mandatory listing.
As for what that means in monetary terms, investment firms have estimated that Tata Sons alone could be valued at Rs 9-12 lakh crore, and the Initial Public Offering (IPO) size could be upward of Rs 55,000 crore, if and when it comes. The combined market capitalisation of the publicly listed Tata Group companies exceeds Rs 30 lakh crore, making it among India’s most valuable conglomerates.
The Tata Sons board said on Thursday that it will seek guidance “from RBI, Tata Trusts and other stakeholders on applicable compliance requirements”, according to its statement, referring to the IPO matter. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which owns roughly 18 per cent of Tata Sons, has already pushed for a listing, as an IPO can help raise money.
But Noel Tata and Tata Trusts later in the day issued statements against the IPO “guidance” move by the board.
“This Board has already considered this question and reached a conclusion. In March 2024, under the guidance of the late Mr Ratan Tata, it resolved, unanimously, that the Company should remain unlisted…” he stressed, also asking the board to keep the regulatory and leadership questions apart.
On the RBI’s stance that could mandate an IPO, Noel Tata said the Tata Sons board, “in consultation with Tata Trusts, must obtain legal advice… upon the remedies available”.
“Even assuming for argument’s sake that a listing was required, and the only option is that the Company must list, the Company should be given a period of three years to comply,” he said, arguing that the RBI allows such a window.
P.S.: The group saw a row over how to operate internally in the 2010s, too, as it picked the first chairman from outside the Tata family, Cyrus Mistry. Ratan Tata had led Tata Sons from 1991 to 2012 and was succeeded by Cyrus Mistry, who came from the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. The board removed Mistry after four years, in 2016, and Ratan Tata returned as interim chairman before Chandrasekaran took over in 2017. Ratan Tata also led the majority shareholder, Tata Trusts. After he died in 2024, his half-brother Noel Tata became chairman of Tata Trusts and joined the Tata Sons board.
