New Delhi: Top honchos of the Tata group, including Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman amid infighting among trustees over board appointments and governance issues.
Noel Tata and Chandrasekaran, along with Tata Trusts Vice Chairman Venu Srinivasan and trustee Darius Khambata, arrived together in the evening at Shah’s residence for the meeting. Sitharaman also joined in 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.
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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.
Sources said 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.
Tata Trusts, Tata Sons and Venu Srinivasan had declined to comment on the matter and comments from Mehli Mistry could not be obtained as calls and messages remained unanswered.
“The primary question in front of the government, considering how significant and important the Tata Group is to the country’s economy, is whether it can let an individual take control of it. The infighting among trustees of Tata Trusts has an impact on Tata Sons,” a source said.
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