A boardroom dispute at Tata Sons has turned into a fight over the future of the holding company of the Tata Group.
The Tata Sons board has approved a fresh five-year term for executive chairman N Chandrasekaran and decided to move ahead with preparations for a possible public listing. Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts and the group's largest shareholder, opposed both decisions.
Noel Tata was the only director to vote against Chandrasekaran's reappointment. Tata Trusts, which collectively own about 66% of Tata Sons, has called the decision on Chandrasekaran's tenure “illegal” and is expected to challenge it.
Two questions now arise: who has the final say in Tata Sons' major decisions, and should the company remain privately held or become a listed entity? Take a look at the key players and where they stand.
N Chandrasekaran: The chairman caught in the Tata Sons tussle
N Chandrasekaran, widely known as Chandra, has been Tata Sons' executive chairman since 2017. He joined Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as a trainee programmer in 1987 and eventually became its CEO in 2009. He was brought onto the Tata Sons board in 2016 and was chosen to lead the group the following year with the backing of the late Ratan Tata.
{{/usCountry}}N Chandrasekaran, widely known as Chandra, has been Tata Sons' executive chairman since 2017. He joined Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as a trainee programmer in 1987 and eventually became its CEO in 2009. He was brought onto the Tata Sons board in 2016 and was chosen to lead the group the following year with the backing of the late Ratan Tata.
{{/usCountry}}Chandrasekaran's current term became a point of tension earlier this year. He indicated in February that he planned to step down, and in August cited the lack of unanimous board support for an extension.
That changed at the September 17 board meeting. The directors approved another five-year term, with Noel Tata casting the only vote against the resolution.
The board has also decided to proceed towards a Tata Sons listing after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rejected the company's request to surrender its registration as a Core Investment Company.
Noel Tata: The biggest shareholder's voice
Noel Tata is chairman of Tata Trusts and a non-executive director on the Tata Sons board. He is also the half-brother of the late Ratan Tata and has spent much of his career within the Tata Group. He is best known for leading Trent, the group's retail company, which operates brands including Westside and Zudio.
In the current dispute, Noel wants the opposite of a Tata Sons listing. His position is that Tata Sons' private structure is important to the way the Tata Group operates.
The holding company should continue to take decisions with a long-term public-interest approach rather than being driven primarily by commercial pressures, he says.
Noel has also proposed alternatives to a listing, including a possible buyout of part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group's stake to provide liquidity to the second-largest shareholder.
Tata Trusts: The 66% shareholder
Tata Trusts are at the centre of the dispute because they collectively control about 66% of Tata Sons. That 66% stake is spread across several trusts rather than being held by one single legal entity.
The two biggest are the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, with about 27.98%, and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, with about 23.56%.
Other trusts include the JRD Tata Trust, Tata Education Trust, Tata Social Welfare Trust, MK Tata Trust and Sarvajanik Seva Trust.
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The Trusts have said that Tata Sons should remain unlisted. They say the company's board had reached that position in March 2024 under Ratan Tata's guidance, and that the two principal trusts repeated it in 2025.
The Trusts have also questioned the validity of Chandrasekaran's reappointment, saying that their special rights under Tata Sons' governance framework were not properly respected.
Shapoorji Pallonji Group: The 18.4% shareholder backing a listing
The Shapoorji Pallonji Group is Tata Sons' second-largest shareholder, with about 18.38%. Its chairman, Shapoor Mistry, has taken the opposite position from Noel Tata and Tata Trusts on the listing issue.
Mistry has said that making Tata Sons public would bring greater transparency, accountability and visibility into the value of the holding company.
The SP Group also has a financial reason to seek greater liquidity. It has substantial debt and recently raised about $2.25 billion through refinancing backed by its Tata Sons shares.
Tata Trusts have said the SP Group proposed monetising part of its stake for at least ₹25,000 crore.
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Venu Srinivasan: The other Tata Trusts nominee
Venu Srinivasan is the second Tata Trusts nominee on the six-member Tata Sons board. He is chairman emeritus of TVS Motor Company and had a close association with Ratan Tata.
Unlike Noel Tata, Srinivasan backed the board's recent decisions, including Chandrasekaran's reappointment.
Saurabh Agrawal: Tata Sons' finance chief
Saurabh Agrawal is an executive director and chief financial officer at Tata Sons. A former investment banker, Agrawal previously held senior positions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered and later worked with the Aditya Birla Group.
He joined Tata Sons in 2017 and has played a key role in the group's financial affairs.
Harish Manwani and Anita George: The independent directors
The other two members of the six-person board are independent directors Harish Manwani and Anita Marangoly George. Manwani is a former global chief operating officer of Unilever and former chairman of Hindustan Unilever. He joined the Tata Sons board in 2018.
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George has worked with institutions including the World Bank, International Finance Corporation and Canadian pension fund CDPQ. She joined the Tata Sons board as an independent director in 2022.
RBI - The trigger the fight is about
The RBI earlier rejected Tata Sons' request to surrender its registration as a Core Investment Company.
That means Tata Sons remains subject to the regulatory framework applicable to an upper-layer non-banking financial company, which carries a listing requirement. Tata Sons had standalone assets of about ₹1.75 lakh crore as of March 2025.
Instead of challenging the RBI decision, the Tata Sons board has decided to proceed towards a listing.
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Who owns Tata Sons?
Tata Sons’ ownership is led by Tata Trusts, which collectively hold about 66% of the company.
The Shapoorji Pallonji Group owns around 18.38%, while Tata Group companies hold about 12.86%. The remaining 2.87% is held by individuals and other entities.
The 66% Tata Trusts stake is spread across several trusts. The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (27.98%) and Sir Ratan Tata Trust (23.56%) hold the largest shares.