Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran met Union home minister Amit Shah and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday amid talks of a rift among trustees over board appointments and governance issues.
Tata and Chandrasekaran, along with Tata Trusts vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan and trustee Darius Khambata, arrived together in the evening at Shah’s residence for the meeting and Sitharaman joined in too.
Tata Trusts exerts decisive influence over India’s most valuable conglomerate through its about 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons, the promoter and holding company of the salt-to-semiconductor group. A rift among trustees has the potential to disrupt the functioning of the group.
The meeting with the ministers came days before a crucial board meeting of Tata Trusts on Friday. Sources said Tata Trusts is said to be split, with one section aligned with Noel Tata, who was appointed chairman of the Trusts following the death of his half-brother Ratan Tata in September 2024.
The other faction of four trustees is led by Mehli Mistry, who has ties with the extended Shapoorji Pallonji family, which owns about 18.37 per cent of Tata Sons. Mistry was a staunch supporter of Ratan Tata and backed Tata in his battle against the late Cyrus Mistry. Mehli reportedly feels he has been kept out of the loop on key matters.
Sources said the flashpoint is said to be board seats at Tata Sons, which controls the 156-year-old group that spans around 400 companies, including 30 listed firms.
The dispute has its roots in a meeting of six trustees of the Tata Trusts, the umbrella group representing several charitable trusts, including the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust.
The meeting on September 11 was convened to consider the reappointment of former defence secretary Vijay Singh as a nominee director on the Tata Sons board.
There are seven trustees of the Tata Trusts, including Singh. Singh did not attend the September 11 meeting as his nomination was on the agenda.
Following the death of Ratan Tata in October 2024, Tata Trusts introduced a policy requiring annual reappointment of nominee directors on the Tata Sons board once they turn 75. At the September 11 meeting, the reappointment of 77-year-old Vijay Singh — a director since 2012 and trustee since 2018 — was proposed by Trusts chairman Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan (chairman emeritus of TVS Group).
However, the four other trustees — Mehli Mistry, Pramit Jhaveri, Jehangir HC Jehangir and Darius Khambata — opposed the move, leading to the resolution’s rejection.
Following the rejection, the four trustees sought to nominate Mehli Mistry to the Tata Sons board, but Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan opposed the move, emphasising the need for a transparent process aligned with Tata’s values. Subsequently, Vijay Singh voluntarily resigned from the Tata Sons board.
Tata Trusts, Tata Sons and Venu Srinivasan had declined to comment on the matter and comments from Mehli Mistry could not be obtained by PTI as calls and messages to him remained unanswered.
