CORPORATE
Rift in Tata Sons as Chandrasekaran gets extension as chairman amid protest by Noel Tata
- IBJ Bureau
- Sep 18, 2026
Tata Sons has reappointed N Chandrasekaran as chairman for five years and decided to consider a public listing.
The resolutions passed by the Tata Sons board on Thursday deepen the fissures within the 158-year-old Tata Group over these contentious issued.
Mr Chandrasekaran and the Noel Tata-led Tata Trusts, which owns 66 per cent of the holding company, have clashed over issues including a potential listing of Tata Sons, Air India’s mounting losses and a planned exit by a minority shareholder.
The 63-year-old chairman’s reappointment is likely to reassure investors as the group grapples with deepening losses at Air India and a sharp downturn at Jaguar Land Rover.
However, the Tata Trusts, the largest shareholder and the charity arm of the Tata Group, has publicly opposed Mr Chandrasekaran’s reappointment and the potential Tata Sons listing, setting the stage for a confrontation.
Boardroom disputes are not new to Tata Sons. In 2016, the board had ousted its then-chairman after he fell out over governance issues with group patriarch Ratan Tata, Noel Tata’s half-brother who had headed the charity arm until his death in 2024.
Mr Chandrasekaran had said last month that he would not seek another term as chairman after February 2027.
But the Tata Group has said in a statement that the board has asked him to reconsider his decision in the group’s “larger interests”, a request that he accepted on Thursday.
Noel Tata, 68, opposed Mr Chandrasekaran’s reappointment and the likely listing of Tata Sons in a statement at Thursday’s board meeting.
The reappointment is “illegal” under Tata Sons’ articles of association, Tata Trusts has said in a statement.
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