Noel Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts, will step down from the boards of six major Tata Group companies on November 12, when he turns 70, in line with the conglomerate’s retirement policy for non-executive directors.
Tata will cease to serve as non-executive chairman of Trent, Voltas, Tata Investment Corporation and Tata International. He will also step down as non-executive vice-chairman of Tata Steel and Titan Company. He will, however, continue as chairman of Tata Trusts and as its nominee director on the board of Tata Sons, the group’s holding company.
The departures are part of the Tata Group’s established governance guidelines and are not linked to the ongoing differences between Tata Trusts and Tata Sons over leadership and governance.
New leadership across Tata companies
Several companies have announced successors to Noel Tata.
TV Narendran, managing director of Tata Steel, will take over as chairman of Tata International. Sunil D’Souza has been appointed chairman of Voltas, while Bahram Vakil, co-founder of law firm AZB & Partners, has been nominated to head Trent.
Tata Investment Corporation has also appointed Vakil as its new chairman. Noel Tata will be designated Chairman Emeritus in recognition of his contribution to the company.
Tata Steel and Titan are expected to appoint new vice-chairmen and directors following his retirement.
Exit comes amid wider governance differences
The board-level changes come at a time when the Tata Group is dealing with differences over the proposed reappointment of N Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons chairman for a third five-year term beginning February 2027.
Noel Tata had opposed the resolution, raising questions about the decision-making process and the role of Tata Trusts-nominated directors. Tata Trusts collectively hold approximately 66% of Tata Sons.
However, the Indian Express reported that Noel Tata’s exit from the six company boards is in accordance with the retirement policy, rather than a consequence of the ongoing governance dispute.
The retirement timeline had been indicated earlier by Tata at the annual general meetings of the respective companies.
Source: Indian Express
