Tata Trusts board meets amid infighting among trustees

New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) Tata Trusts' board discussed routine issues, staying away from contentious matters, in its meeting held on Friday amid murmurs of a rift among the trustees over board appointment and governance issues.

"Today’s meeting was routine, with no contentious issues discussed," a source said, adding that there were presentations on various hospital and rural development projects.

"There was no reference to past events," the source added.

The meeting comes after the top brass of the Tata Group, including Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

When contacted, Tata Trusts declined to comment on what transpired in the meeting.

However, reports said the agenda of the meeting is mainly focused on regular philanthropic activities and review of funding proposals for healthcare projects.

On Tuesday, Noel Tata and Chandrasekaran, along with Tata Trusts Vice Chairman Venu Srinivasan and trustee Darius Khambata, met Shah and Sitharaman at the home minister's residence.

The meeting came against the backdrop of infighting among the trustees of Tata Trusts over board appointments and governance issues, which threaten to impact the functioning of the over USD 180 billion conglomerate.

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.

Sources said Tata Trusts is said to be vertically split, with one section aligned with Noel Tata, who was appointed chairman of the Trusts following the death of Ratan Tata. The other grouping 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.

Mehli reportedly feels he has been kept out of the loop on key matters.

According to sources, 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 Sri 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 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, Singh voluntarily resigned from the Tata Sons board. PTI RKL BAL BAL