Tata Trusts to discuss keeping Tata Sons private and Chandrasekaran's third term at May meet

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bengaluru/Mumbai: Tata Trusts is expected to discuss several vexing issues, including whether to retaining Tata Sons as a private company and the possibility of giving a third full term to chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, when the Trustees of the philanthropic entities meet in the second week of May, about four months after its last meeting in January, according to two Tata Group executives who did not wish to be named.The agenda for the meeting has not yet been finalised or shared with trustees, the two executives said, and the meeting could be convened on 8 or 12 May, depending on the availability of all trustees.Whether Chandrasekaran's third term will be discussed depends on Tata Sons' response to the questions that Tata Trusts chair Noel Tata raised at the Tata Sons board meeting on 24 February, one executive said. At that meeting, Noel Tata had raised questions about Tata Sons' strategic direction, prompting the board to defer a decision on Chandrasekaran's re-appointment for a third five-year term, set to begin in February 2027.Noel Tata, who took over as the chair of Tata Trusts on 11 October 2024, had raised three questions at the board meeting in February.

First, he sought clarity on Tata Sons’ roadmap to make its e-commerce (Tata Digital) and aviation (Air India) businesses profitable, as well as on the future of its semiconductor business (Tata Electronics). This was because he and the other Trustees had been unaware of the losses incurred by some of these businesses for nine months, according to two executives.