Tata Trusts stand on Chandrasekaran unchanged amid Noel's concerns

A Tata Trusts resolution backing a third term for N Chandrasekaran remains valid, even as questions linger over Tata Sons' future structure

The Tata Trusts Resolution, recommending a third term for Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, remains valid some six months after it was passed unanimously by the trustees, according to sources in the know. There has been no change in the position of Tata Trusts on the leadership matter, one of the sources told Business Standard. 

In a Tata Sons board meeting on February 24, Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata reportedly raised concerns related to some of the businesses in the Group and sought assurance that the parent company would remain private before any decision was taken on Chandrasekaran’s renewal, putting a question mark on last year’s Resolution on the subject. Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan, vice-chairman of Tata Trusts, had in September 2025 proposed a third five-year term as executive chairman for Chandrasekaran, or Chandra as he’s popularly known, ahead of the Resolution. 

On his part, Chandra indicated at last week’s board meeting that a call on renewal of his term should not be taken without a consensus between Tata Sons and Tata Trusts. 

It is learnt that the government is closely watching the fast-paced developments at the salt-to-semiconductor conglomerate. Last year, top Cabinet ministers had stepped in to resolve the differences within Tata Trusts,  the largest shareholder in Tata Sons—the holding company of the Group estimated at a market cap of around $400 billion. The government ‘’may be inclined towards stock market listing of Tata Sons because of the continued turbulence within Tata Trusts since Ratan Tata’s passing in 2024’’, another source said. 

Tata Sons was designated an upper layer non banking financial company by RBI in September 2022, mandating a stock market listing of Tata Sons within three years. The RBI has not responded to the Tatas’ request seeking a change in classification from an upper layer core investment company. And Tata Sons has remained silent on the way forward. Tata Trusts has maintained that Tata Sons must remain private. Detailed questionnaires sent to the Tata Trusts trustees, including Noel Tata, remained unanswered till the time of going to press. 

 

Although the leadership renewal matter remains pending, Tata Trusts has not had a meeting yet to deliberate on the subject, sources pointed out. 

Chandra, now 62, took the leadership charge at the holding company of the Tata group on February 21, 2017, four months after Cyrus Mistry was removed from that role. If and when the Tata Sons board approves Chandra’s renewal, he’s expected to continue to lead the group till at least 2032. Within the Tata Group, executives typically superannuate at 65, while those in non-executive roles can go up to 70. By recommending another renewal for Chandra as executive chairman, who will be 68 at the end of his third term, Tata Trusts had  favoured continuity during the group’s business transformation.