MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The Tata brass briefed senior govt functionaries on the turmoil inside the conglomerate ahead of N Chandrasekaran's announcement last Wednesday that he would step down as Tata Sons chairman in Feb, people familiar with the matter said.
The engagement covered the rift between Chandrasekaran and Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata over strategy and governance, the direction of new business ventures, and lingering uncertainty over whether Chandrasekaran would be reappointed, these people said.
Both men engaged with govt leaders individually, though the exact dates and the substance of those conversations could not be independently confirmed. During these engagements, concerns related to some appointments, and the losses incurred by Air India and Tata's digital platforms as well as semiconductor ventures were highlighted.
Noel Tata was in Delhi over the weekend, which coincided with Independence Day and the Parsi New Year holiday, but sources denied any meeting with govt functionaries during the latest trip. People close to him maintained the trip concerned Trent, the group’s retail arm, and was not linked to succession developments.
Noel Tata serves as non-executive chairman of Trent, a role he will relinquish in Nov under the group’s retirement limit of 70 years. The timing of his trip, coming as it did amid mounting suspense over who would take over from Chandrasekaran, generated interest, given that he has no role in day-to-day operations at Trent.
While govts keep themselves in the know on systemically important businesses, it is not usual for the country’s political leadership to be apprised of internal dynamics at a private-sector corporate group that is not mired in a financial crisis or insolvency process. In this case, it was the Tata group leadership that reached out to officials; functionaries only heard them out with govt ensuring that it did not side with any of the factions.
Govt’s interest in developments at the Tatas is, however, not without precedent. In 2025, roughly a year after Noel Tata succeeded his half-brother Ratan Tata as chairman of Tata Trusts, tensions within Trusts which are controlling shareholders of Tata Sons prompted Noel Tata, Chandrasekaran and other trustees, including TVS Motor chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan, to engage separately with senior govt functionaries.
Those discussions were aimed at addressing divisions within Trusts and navigating proposed regulations concerning Tata Sons’ corporate structure.
More recently, in June 2026, Noel Tata met senior reserve Bank of India officials to voice concerns over a potential Tata Sons initial public offering, a move that would dilute Trusts’ control over the company.
A trustee argued that the recurring tensions between the chairman of Tata Sons and the chairman of the Trusts, first during the Cyrus Mistry era and now under Chandrasekaran, point to a structural problem requiring a long-term solution.
“You have to find a way out,” the trustee said, adding that an IPO is one such solution, which would redefine the relationship between the company and its dominant shareholder.
