4 min readMay 26, 2026 10:49 AM IST
The board of Tata Sons, holding company of $180 billion Tata group, is expected to meet on Tuesday, with Chairman N Chandrasekaran likely to present a revised strategic roadmap for the conglomerate’s future growth and restructuring plans to the directors, including Vice Chairman Noel Tata.
The discussions are expected to focus on the long-term direction of key group companies, particularly the turnaround and consolidation strategy for several unlisted and loss-making businesses within the Tata portfolio. The proposed roadmap is likely to outline priorities around operational efficiency, capital allocation, leadership alignment and strengthening the group’s overall financial performance amid evolving market conditions.
The Tata Sons board currently comprises six members: Executive Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, Vice Chairman and Non-Executive Director Noel Tata, Non-Executive Director Venu Srinivasan, Independent Directors Harish Manwani and Anita M George, along with Executive Director and Group CFO Saurabh Agrawal.
It’s not clear whether the issue of listing of Tata Sons is on the agenda. While the official position of Tata Sons is against listing, Venu Srinivasan has publicly advocated for the listing of Tata Sons.
On February 24, the outcome of the board meeting of Tata Sons was unusual as Noel Tata surprised other Directors, raising questions on losses made by several unlisted companies in the $180 billion group. While the extension of its Chairman N Chandrasekaran for a third term of five years was agreed upon earlier by Tata Trusts trustees, Noel Tata proved to be a tough task master — raising several queries at the board meeting and putting across several conditions for approving another term for him. Four Tata Sons Directors were in favour of extending the tenure and were ready to put the issue for voting, but Chandrasekaran proposed postponement of the decision as he apparently felt decisions in Tata Sons should be on consensus based, a tradition followed by late Ratan Tata. In short, he wanted the approval of Noel Tata for the extension.
Chandrasekaran, 63, became the Chairman of Tata Sons in 2017 after the exit of Cyrus Mistry. He got his second extension in 2022. For a third extension, Tata Sons will have to waive the retirement norms. As per the current policy, directors in executive position should retire on attaining 65 years of age.
Meanwhile, the board of Tata Trusts — excluding the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) — is expected to meet on June 8 to deliberate on a broad set of governance and strategic issues. Among the key matters expected to come up for discussion is the future of Venu Srinivasan’s role as a nominee director on the board of Tata Sons. The review assumes significance because Srinivasan had reportedly diverged from the stance adopted by the Tata Trusts by supporting the view that Tata Sons should become a listed entity.
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On May 16, Tata Trusts decided to defer the much-awaited board meeting of SRTT following an order from the Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra.
Interestingly, the order has made reference to representation/complaint from Tata Sons Director and Tata Trusts Trustee Venu Srinivasan and Katyayani Agrawal. It’s clear from the order of the Charity Commissioner that Srinivasan and Agrawal raised the issue of reducing the number of perpetual trustees.
The board meeting was originally supposed to be held on May 8 but the trust postponed it to May 16 without assigning any reason. The key issues on the agenda of Tata Trusts board meet included review of Tata Trusts representation on the board of Tata Sons, differing views among trustees regarding the potential listing of Tata Sons and the issue of perpetual trustees.
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