New Delhi: Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata is busy ensuring that Tata Sons is not listed in the stock exchange and remains a private company to keep the huge Tata Group united, instead of it being split apart.
Earlier this year it surfaced prominently at a meeting of the board held at Bombay House. The board had wanted to extend N Chandrasekaran’s tenure as chairman of Tata Sons for a third time. However, the election was delayed due to a number of concerns raised by Noel Tata. He wanted definite responses about his company’s viability for listing on the stock market.
The reason why this matter is significant is that in 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had assigned the uplifted category of “upper-layer” NBFC (a large financial company) to Tata Sons. Under the RBI Rules, this kind of companies are supposed to go public within 3 years. As yet it is unclear if this deadline has been changed, but there’s no official word.
Noel Tata also raised concerns on losses in some of the newer businesses such as Air India and Tata Digital and enquired about better clarity on the way the businesses are being managed.
Under Noel Tata’s leadership of Tata Trusts, the company has a controlling stake in Tata Sons, providing them a strong influence in making such decisions. The majority of the trustees are also in favor of staying private, although a few trustees, including Vijay Singh and Venu Srinivasan, have mentioned about the possibility of listing.
To get things moving, another RBI board member, Noel Tata, has been tasked with directly beginning negotiations with the Central Bank. He is expected to meet the RBI officials soon to discuss the issue about his unlisted status once again.
The discussion also coincides with Chandrasekaran’s decision to resign from the chairmanship early next year and the recruitment of a new leadership team for the group is scheduled for next month.
The issue of whether Tata Sons should remain private or public has been a delicate one in the group for a number of years and seems likely to stay in the forefront of its minds in the next few months.
