Is the Tata empire collapsing? The full background of the ongoing controversy.
The conflict within Tata Sons, India's largest business conglomerate, does not seem to have ended. When directors voted to extend the term of office of the Tata Sons group leader, the conflict intensified on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the largest shareholder of the group announced that this vote was invalid. In this controversial board meeting, the directors approved the products for Tata Sons' listing on the stock market. Nojal Tata opposed this decision.
Noval Tata is the head of Tata Trusts. Tata Trusts holds about 66 percent of the shares in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group. In the Tata group's more than 150-year history, extending the term of office of N. Chandrasekaran is considered very important.
A legal battle may erupt against the meeting that decided to extend the term of office of N. Chandrasekaran by five years.
Chandrasekaran dramatically changed his plans.
In the context of the ongoing conflict with Nojal Tata, he had planned to resign in February.
Only Nojal Tata voted in favor of the extension of Chandrasekaran's term of office. This difference was cited by Chandrasekaran as a reason for his resignation in August.
While there was a prolonged deadlock in the board regarding his term of office, Chandrasekaran suddenly announced that he would not seek re-appointment in mid-August. However, the situation suddenly changed.
The Tata Empire.
Tata Sons plans to invest billions of dollars in semiconductor products. Various brands, from Taj Hotels to tea, operate under this company.
Out of the 32 companies of the Tata group, 26 are listed on the stock market.
Tata Trusts, which comprises 13 charitable trusts, controls approximately 66 percent of the shares in Tata Sons. Meanwhile, the group companies hold about 13 percent of the shares.
Nojal Tata, the brother of the late Ratan Tata, is the head of Tata Trusts. He will take this position after the demise of Ratan Tata in October 2024. Ratan Tata, one of India's most famous industrialists, served as the chairman of the Tata group.
Tata Trusts, led by Nojal Tata, immediately announced that the vote for the extension of Chandrasekaran's term of office was invalid.
During the meeting, Nojal Tata, speaking to the board members, stated, "Any decision taken regarding the chairman's position now will face serious legal complications from any shareholder who wishes to oppose it."
In a report by the British newspaper 'Financial Times', it is mentioned that, "According to the statements of two well-informed individuals who attended the meeting, Nojal Tata was the only director who opposed the decision to comply with the Reserve Bank of India's order. The Reserve Bank has asked for Tata Sons to be listed on the stock market."
The appeal filed by Tata against the rules for listing the holding company was rejected by the Reserve Bank last week.
Nojal Tata's Opposition.
In the Financial Times report, it is stated that, "Analysts estimate that if Tata Sons is listed on the stock market, its value may be more than $120 billion. If this happens, it will be the largest Initial Public Offering (IPO) in India. This will bring about a massive change in the ownership and governance structure of the Tata group, which has been under the control of some for over a century."
In compliance with the order issued by the Reserve Bank, the company stated that the executive board has decided to initiate the steps for listing Tata Sons on the stock market.
According to the Financial Times report, "One of the senior officials of the Tata group stated that the decisions of the executive board can be challenged in court."
"According to the company's rules, any significant strategic proposal requires the approval of a majority of the directors recommended by the trusts. However, currently there are only two directors recommended by these trusts in the Tata Sons executive board. They are Nojal Tata and Venu Srinivasan. Srinivasan voted in favor with the other board members on the resolutions put forth on Thursday."
In the report released by Tata Trusts, it was stated that the proposal to re-appoint Chandrasekaran as the Tata Sons group leader is not within the Articles of Association of Tata Sons.
Out of the six directors in the executive board, four voted in favor of the proposal. Nojal Tata voted against it. Chandrasekaran abstained from the vote.
In the report released by Tata Trusts, "We do not agree with listing Tata Sons on the stock market. The letter from the Reserve Bank dated September 11, 2026, was discussed in the executive board meeting held today."
"The executive board agreed that we should consider other ways, not just focusing on listing on the stock market. The executive board had already considered listing Tata Sons on the stock market. Following the guidance of the late Ratan Tata, the executive board unanimously decided that the company should not be listed on the stock market in March 2024."
"In July 2025 as well, both the Sir Thorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust unanimously passed resolutions that the company should not be listed on the stock market."
"This is not an emotional matter. This is how this group operates and the reason it has survived for over a century. Listing on the stock market will destroy the unique nature of the Tata group and weaken the foundation of this policy."
The former Chairman of TVS, Srinivasan, has long supported Chandrasekaran's extension of the term of office; he also publicly supported the listing of Tata Sons on the stock market this year.
Who is Natarajan Chandrasekaran?
Chandrasekaran is the first person to lead Tata Sons, rather than being a member of the Tata family. He was personally selected for this position by Ratan Tata. He worked for a total of 30 years in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as CEO.
He is credited with transforming this IT giant into one of India's most important companies. He established himself as a technologist and a trustworthy leader.
The American media outlet Bloomberg has noted that the Tata group has taken the Tata group forward in the fields of cutting-edge technology, including iPhone manufacturing and electric vehicles, in the last decade under Chandrasekaran's leadership, which is his biggest success.
According to the information released by Bloomberg, "The total revenue of the Tata group's 15 listed companies, which was ₹6 lakh crore in the fiscal year ending March 2017, has more than doubled to ₹12.3 lakh crore in the fiscal year ending March 2026 during his tenure. During this period, the profits of the Tata companies also increased by more than 360 percent, reaching ₹1.66 lakh crore."
Chandrasekaran faced pressures in the last year to make his business profitable. The group faced challenges such as the Air India plane crash, the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover affecting the UK's GDP, and the growing threat of artificial intelligence to TCS. He was also under pressure to fulfill one of his ambitious plans to create India's first indigenous semiconductor chip.
Chandrasekaran announced that he would resign from the position of Tata Sons leader after his term of office ended in February. This decision was released after a prolonged deadlock over the extension of his term of office.
Controversies related to Nojal Tata.
Last November, the 'Nikkei Asia' media outlet published a report about the Tata family conflict. The report mentioned that voices were rising against Nojal Tata within the Tata Trusts organization. In a letter sent to Nojal Tata last November, the Tata Trusts board member Mehli Mishtri announced his resignation from the organization. He stated that taking decisions hastily could cause irreparable damage to the Tata group.
Nikkei Asia wrote in its report, "When Mishtri was removed because he opposed the recommendation of the Tata Trusts board member Nojal Tata to re-appoint a member, Mishtri left. Mishtri wanted to become a director, but it seems Nojal Tata stopped him."
Since it was unavoidable to ignore the ongoing turmoil within the Tata group, the central government has intervened and mediated. According to Reuters, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and other officials urged Nojal Tata and other senior officials of the group to meet and reach a quick resolution in early October of last year.
Professor Emeritus Mahmood Kojima of the University of Tokyo, who is investigating the Tata group, told Nikkei Asia, "If the group is listed on the stock market, market pressures that focus only on profit may be encouraged. If it is publicly listed, it may be difficult to compromise management philosophy and ethics."
In a letter to Nojal Tata, the head of Tata Trusts, Mishtri, a close associate of Ratan Tata, wrote, "My commitment to Ratan Tata's vision is that Tata Trusts should not get entangled in any controversy."
Why does Nojal Tata oppose listing Tata Sons on the stock market?
Bloomberg noted in its report that there is no fair business valuation regarding the advantages and disadvantages of listing Tata Sons due to mutual competition and regulatory confusion.
Once listed, the company will be forced to increase transparency. Opportunities to raise funds for new businesses may expand. Furthermore, opportunities will be available to large and renowned global investors.
Hetal Thal, the head and Chief Operating Officer of IiAS, a management consulting firm based in Mumbai, told Bloomberg, "Public shareholders did not support agreements like buying Air India and investing in semiconductor facilities. The discussion about listing Tata Sons is driven by regulatory norms more than any concrete benefits."
Unlike other charitable trusts in India, Tata Trusts has the privilege of voting rights on the shares of Tata Sons. It is not that this right is easy to revoke.
Beyond all these weaknesses, Bloomberg wrote that the fissures that occurred in the Tata group ten years ago are now deepening further.
The head of the trusts controlling the group and a member of the family, Nojal Tata, stated in the Financial Times that listing Tata Sons will be a big step for the Tata group.
Nirmalya Kumar Effy, a professor and former official of the Tata group, told Nikkei Asia, "The government cannot take such a big decision by the Reserve Bank without indirect and informal approval."
The differences of opinion regarding whether to list or not were the main cause of the controversy in the board this year. When N. Chandrasekaran, the long-serving head of Tata Sons, announced his resignation when his term of office ended next February, this conflict reached its peak.
A person close to Tata Sons told the Financial Times, "The government forces a company to do something that it does not want to do in public. The regulatory uncertainty surrounding this process will severely affect foreign investment."