While the date of the AGM has not yet been decided, the arithmetic around the votes at the shareholders’ meeting is a talking point among the parties concerned, according to people in the know.
The pattern of voting at the AGM to renew Chandrasekaran’s directorship, following the routine expiry of his term, will determine the future of leadership at Tata Sons, the holding company of the steel-to-semiconductor conglomerate. The majority verdict in each trust will be counted along with its shareholding proportion to arrive at the result.
Chandrasekaran’s directorship has to be renewed before he can be given a third term as Tata Sons chairman, for which the company board passed a resolution on September 17 during a stormy meeting. The AGM, which was scheduled for August 18, could not be held because one of the key trusts — Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) — was frozen by the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner earlier this year over alleged violations linked to perpetual trusteeship. The Registrar of Companies granted time until the end of this year for Tata Sons to hold the AGM.
Noel, chairman of Tata Trusts, which holds close to 66 per cent in Tata Sons, along with his immediate family, accounts for 33 per cent of the total number of trustees at Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), the biggest trust in the Tata Trusts fold. SDTT’s shareholding in Tata Sons is estimated at 27.98 per cent. While Noel is the only lifetime trustee at SDTT, the other five have a three-year tenure. The duration of trusteeship is typically renewed on expiry, but recently some trustees have been ousted through voting when their terms ended.
At SDTT, the three-year term of Darius Khambata, a senior advocate, will end in November, it is learnt. The term of Vijay Singh, former defence secretary, runs until July 2027. The terms of industrialist Venu Srinivasan, senior executive in Tata group’s retail business and Noel’s son Neville Tata, and former managing director of Titan Industries Bhaskar Bhat, will end at SDTT in November 2028.
At the second-biggest trust — SRTT — which is currently frozen and whose status at the time of the AGM is unknown, Noel is the only member of his family, accounting for 20 per cent of the total number of trustees. There was a proposal to induct Neville Tata and Bhat into SRTT last November, but the move was halted after Srinivasan reportedly expressed reservations over the procedures at a Trusts board meeting. SRTT, which holds 23.56 per cent of Tata Sons, has three lifetime trustees — Noel, Jimmy N Tata, Ratan Tata’s younger brother, and Jehangir H C Jehangir, philanthropist and chairman of Jehangir Hospital.
According to the amended Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, only one-fourth of the number of trustees can have perpetual trustee status. SRTT has three perpetual trustees out of a total of five, thereby exceeding the regulatory cap. Going by the current number, only one can remain a perpetual trustee. Of the other two trustees at SRTT, Khambata’s term will end in November and Srinivasan’s in December.
Besides SDTT and SRTT, there are five other shareholding trusts where every vote will matter at the AGM, according to a source. At JRD Tata Trust, with 4.01 per cent shareholding in Tata Sons, Noel and Neville account for 50 per cent of the total number of trustees. The other two trustees here are Srinivasan and Singh, vice-chairmen of Tata Trusts.
At Tata Education Trust (TET), with a 3.73 per cent shareholding in Tata Sons, Noel, along with his daughters Leah and Maya, who have been engaged with philanthropy and various group businesses, constitutes 60 per cent of the total strength. The other trustees at TET are Singh and Srinivasan.
Tata Social Welfare Trust (TSWT), with a 3.73 per cent shareholding in Tata Sons, also represents Noel and his family — Leah and Neville — who account for 60 per cent of the total. Srinivasan and Singh are the other trustees here as well. At RD Tata Trust, Noel, Maya, and Neville account for 50 per cent of the overall trustee strength. The others are Singh, Srinivasan, and Tushad B Dubash, a businessman with interests ranging from shipping to real estate. Finally, at Sarvajanik Seva Trust, with a 0.1 per cent holding in Tata Sons, Noel, along with Leah and Maya, accounts for 60 per cent of the total, with the other trustees being Jimmy and J N Mistry, a Mumbai-based lawyer.
Across the seven shareholding trusts, Noel and his family hold 17 of the 36 trustee positions. Leah and Maya were inducted into three trusts each in May 2024, just months before Ratan Tata died. Neither Leah nor Maya is yet a trustee in the two key trusts — SDTT and SRTT. Neville was also inducted into three minor shareholding trusts in May 2024, and he joined the largest shareholder, SDTT, in November 2025. Comparing with the Ratan Tata era, a source said that Tata Trusts was more broad-based earlier with eminent trustees from various walks of life.
- Noel Tata is in all 7 shareholding trusts under Tata Trusts
- Neville Tata is in core trust — SDTT — and 3 other shareholding trusts
- Leah and Maya in 3 shareholding trusts, not in any major trust yet
Term sheet
- Noel Tata perpetual trustee in both SDTT and SRTT
- Venu Srinivasan’s SRTT term till December 2026, SDTT term November 2028
- Darius Khambata’s SRTT tenure to end in November 2026
- Vijay Singh’s SDTT term to expire in July 2027
