An initial agenda item for the six board directors of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, when they convened at Bombay House – the group’s headquarters – at 11:30 am on Tuesday, was expected to be straightforward: approving a third term for Natarajan Chandrasekaran as chairman.
Within two hours the conversation went astray. The deal seemed to be a done deal, with Tata Trusts itself recommending reappointment a few months ago, but that soon unravelled.
Tata Trust chief Noel Tata began pressing Chandra – as he is widely known – with tough questions. Most critically, Noel sought assurances that the group’s holding company could avoid a public listing, the people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private. The Tata Trusts are a group of 13 charities that together control two-thirds of Tata Sons.
Noel also set a number of conditions: controlling debt levels, curbing losses — especially at Air India, and reaching a quick settlement with Tata Sons’ largest minority shareholder — the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, the people said. SP Group, which holds about 18.4% stake, was locked in a corporate and legal battle with Tata Sons for years and is still looking to monetize a part of its stake.
While some of Noel’s demands were negotiable, discussions were interrupted when Chandra said he could not guarantee a waiver from India’s banking regulator on the listing issue – as the decision was out of his control, the people said.
maintain stability
Chandra had left the board meeting in Mumbai by 3:30 pm. As he walked past the swarm of TV cameras outside Bombay House, he responded briefly to questions about what happened at the board meeting: “I recommended that it should be postponed.”
By postponing the decision on his reappointment, Chandra indicated that a consensus between Tata Sons and Tata Trusts was necessary to maintain stability at the salt-of-the-mill software group already battling headwinds in several sectors. It also reflects hard-earned learning for the group after being rocked by bitter courtroom and boardroom battles in 2016.
“The group has historically valued consensus in major board decisions, and the absence of that consensus appears to be the reason for the postponement,” Utkarsh Sinha, managing director at boutique investment banking firm Bexley Advisors, told Bloomberg News.
Chandra’s current tenure is till February 2027, ensuring there will be no immediate leadership void at the $180 billion Tata Group. Yet the day’s events have raised the possibility that another power struggle could erupt. As the first non-family, non-successor chairman of Tata Sons, Chandra is facing increasing pressure from Noel – a scion of the Tata family who intends to exert greater influence over how the group is run.
Representatives of Tata Trusts and Tata Sons did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comments.
‘Reuniting stakeholders’
“No credible successor is emerging at this stage,” Sinha said. “This suggests that the delay is less about transition planning and more about aligning key stakeholders on capital structure, strategic priorities and the pace of investment in new businesses.”
If Chandra is ultimately reappointed, it would provide continuity as the group pursues ambitious projects ranging from semiconductors to mobile manufacturing. But Noel’s stance makes it clear that the balance of power between Tata Trusts and the holding company remains unstable, echoing the board fight that rocked the group a decade ago.
In 2016, Tata Sons suddenly removed the then chairman Cyrus Mistry. The move, orchestrated by Ratan Tata, then head of the Tata Trusts, destroyed the group’s reputation for quiet consensus and turned its leadership change into a public spectacle.
Tata Trusts holds 66% stake in Tata Sons, the holding company that controls the group’s largest listed entities, which includes Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd. and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd.—owner of Jaguar Land Rover.
The potential listing of Tata Sons stems from the regulatory classification. In 2022, the Reserve Bank of India designated the company as an “upper tier” non-banking financial institution – a category that requires companies to go public within three years to enhance transparency and governance. This meant that September 2025 was the deadline for Tata Sons to list its shares. There has been no update from RBI or Tata Sons on the state of play on this front.
Despite the order, Tata Sons has not made any immediate preparations for this share sale. Its leadership believes the regulator will extend the deadline, and after recent talks with officials, it is expected to get more time in formal communication from the RBI.
Chandra has made it clear that although he is personally in favor of taking Tata Sons private, he cannot give absolute guarantees. Should the RBI insist on listing, compliance would take priority over internal priorities, the people said, Chandra had informed the directors.
This uncertainty is weighing heavily on Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Any delay in Tata Sons’ IPO effectively closes the potential liquidity window for the debt-laden conglomerate, which is grappling with increased financial stress due to the pandemic. Its stake in Tata Sons remains liquid, making the resolution important for its debt-reduction plans.
While Chandra enjoys strong support from the Indian government – earned through the implementation of high-level national projects such as semiconductor fabrication and mobile manufacturing – Noel Tata draws strength from a different source: the deep trust and blessing of the Parsi community, whose members have controlled the Tata Group since its inception in 1868.
Chandra, appointed in 2017 to steady the ship after the removal of Cyrus Mistry, has done more than restore confidence. Under his leadership, the revenues of the group’s 15 largest listed entities have almost doubled, while their profits have more than doubled.
His tenure is also defined by high-stakes ambition, from launching India’s first domestic semiconductor plant to steering TCS through the volatile rise of AI to turning around the unprofitable carrier, Air India.
When Chandra was asked on Tuesday about the immediate impact on the leadership of Tata Group, he said before his car stopped, “Nothing changes.”