Noel Tata family’s role is important in Tata Sons’ AGM, voting will be held on Chandrasekaran’s tenure

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N in the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Tata Sons. Chandrasekaran’s directorship in the company is to be renewed. The date of the AGM has not been decided yet but considering the structure of the seven shareholder institutions associated with Tata Trusts, the role of Noel Tata and his family is considered important in this meeting. According to informed people, the discussion is intense among the concerned parties regarding the voting to be held in the AGM.

The outcome of the voting on Chandrasekaran’s directorship renewal will be important for the future leadership of Tata Sons. Tata Sons is the holding company of the Tata Group and the group’s business spans across sectors ranging from steel to semiconductors. The final result will be decided by combining the majority decision in each trust with its shareholding ratio.

Chandrasekaran’s current tenure as director is ending. Before giving him a third term as the chairman of Tata Sons, it is necessary to extend his tenure as a director of the company. The company’s board had approved the proposal to give him a third term in a stormy meeting held on September 17. The AGM of Tata Sons was earlier scheduled to be held on 18 August 2026, but this meeting could not take place.

A major reason for this was the ban imposed by the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner on Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), one of the major trusts. This action was taken in case of alleged violation of rules related to permanent trusteeship. After this the company was given some more time to organize the AGM. The Registrar of Companies (ROC) has given Tata Sons permission to hold its AGM by the end of this year.

Tata Trusts holds about 66 percent stake in Tata Sons. Particularly significant is the presence of Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and his family in Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), one of the largest trusts. Noel Tata and his close family members constitute 33 per cent of the total trustees of SDTT. SDTT holds an estimated 27.98 per cent stake in Tata Sons. Noel Tata is the only trustee in SDTT who has been made a lifetime trustee. The tenure of the remaining five trustees is three years.

Usually, after the tenure of the trustee ends, his tenure is extended again. However, in recent years, some trustees have also been removed from office through voting after the completion of their tenure. It is understood that senior advocate Darius Khambatta’s three-year tenure in SDTT will end in November 2026. The tenure of former Defense Secretary Vijay Singh is till July 2027. The tenure of industrialist Venu Srinivasan, Noel Tata’s son Neville Tata, senior Tata group retail executive, and Bhaskar Bhatt, former managing director of Titan Industries, in SDTT will end in November 2028.

The status of the second largest trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), is not clear at present. This trust is currently frozen and it is not yet known what its status will be at the time of the AGM. Noel Tata is the only trustee from his family in SRTT and his stake is 20 percent in the total trustees. In November last year, a proposal was made to make Neville Tata and Bhaskar Bhatt trustees in SRTT. However, it is said that in a meeting of the Trust Board, Venu Srinivasan raised objections to the process. After this this proposal was stopped.

SRTT holds 23.56 percent stake in Tata Sons. The trust has three life trustees, Noel Tata, Ratan Tata’s younger brother Jimmy N. Tata and philanthropist and chairman of Jahangir Hospital, Jahangir HC Jahangir. According to the amended Maharashtra Public Trust Act, only a maximum of one-fourth of the total number of trustees in a trust can be made permanent i.e. lifelong trustees. But in SRTT there are three life trustees out of total five trustees. In this way this number exceeds the prescribed limit.

According to the current numbers, only one person can be a lifetime trustee in SRTT. Among the remaining two trustees, the tenure of Darius Khambatta will end in November 2026 and the tenure of Venu Srinivasan will end in December 2026. Apart from SRTT and SDTT, there are five other shareholder trusts associated with Tata Trusts. According to a source, the votes of all these trusts in the upcoming AGM
Will be important.

JRD Tata Trust (JRDTT) holds 4.01 per cent stake in Tata Sons. Here Noel Tata and Neville Tata hold 50 percent stake in the total trustees. The other two trustees of this trust are Srinivasan and Singh, who is the vice chairman of Tata Trusts. Tata Education Trust (TET) holds 3.73 per cent stake in Tata Sons. In this, Noel Tata and his daughters Lia Tata and Maya Tata hold 60 percent of the total trustees. Along with philanthropic work, both daughters are also associated with various businesses of the Tata Group.

The other trustees of TET are Singh and Srinivasan. Tata Social Welfare Trust (TSWT) also holds 3.73 per cent stake in Tata Sons. In this, Noel Tata and his family, including Leah and Neville Tata, hold 60 percent of the total trustees.