MUMBAI: The trustees of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, which is the largest of the 13-odd charities that own Tata Sons, has begun the process of appointing a search panel to find the successor to Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the current chairman, who announced his decision to leave Bombay House Wednesday by the end of his current term, ending the nearly two-year-old differences with the trusts.
“Our nominee directors received an email from N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons on August 12, wherein he conveyed his decision to not offer himself for re-appointment as chairman upon the expiry of his current tenure on February 20, 2027,” the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) said in a statement, after a board meeting chaired by chairman of the trusts Noel Tata, on Thursday.
“We respect his decision not to offer himself for reappointment,” they said further, and placed on record their “deepest appreciation for his contribution and stewardship of Tata Sons and the Tata group over the past decade.”
It further said the board meeting also passed a resolution “to initiate the process of setting up of a selection committee as soon as possible in accordance with the articles of association of Tata Sons for recommending a person for appointment as the new chairman of the board of directors of Tata Sons.”
The six SDTT trustees—Noel, Bhaskar Bhatt, Venu Srinivasan Vijay Singh, Darius Khambata and Neville Tata—also said, “we extend our full support to Tata Sons in ensuring a smooth, timely and orderly transition of leadership, consistent with the values and long-term interests of Tata Sons and the Tata group.”The trustees also thanked Chandra for his “immense contribution during a period of significant change, growth and transformation across the group.”
Significantly, the other major trust, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) could not pass a resolution to this effect or meet due to the still continuing regulatory ban clamped on in May.According to Tata Sons’ FY26 annual report, the SDTT, created in 1932, owns 27.98% or 1,13,067 shares of the 66.4% stake that the charities collectively own in Tata Sons, the holding company of the 158-year-old, $190-billion Tata empire with a market value of close to $400 billion, while the SRTT, started in 1919, owns 23.56% or 95,211 shares.
The JRD Tata Trust, created in 1944, owns 16,200 shares or 4.01%, followed by the Tata Education Trust and the Tata Social Welfare Trust both owning 15,075 shares or 3.73% each; the RD Tata Trust owns 8,873 shares or 2.19% (these three were created in 1990); and the Sarvajanik Seva Trust created in 1975 owns 0.1% or 396 shares of the 65.3% total. Noel Tata (4,060 shares), the late Ratan Tata (3,368 shares through his endowments) and his brother Jimmy own (3,263 shares, making up the remaining 1.1% of the total 66.4% ownership.
A source told TNIE that the trusts chairman Noel Tata, who was opposed to Chandra’s reappointment in the February 20, 2026 meeting, and remained against the same since then, is likely to head the search panel.Since the group patriarch Ratan Tata moved into history on October 9, 2024 after leading the group and the trusts as the chairman for 21 years—the last Tata to do, the trusts and Tata Sons had passed in November that year passed a resolution that a search panel would be mandatory to choose the chairman of Tata Sons going forward.
The same resolution also had a clause that the same person cannot chair the trusts and Tata Sons simultaneously.Chandrasekaran in his resignation letter had said on Wednesday that he will demit office as the chairman of Tata Sons on February 20, 2027, when his second term ends.Under article 118 of Tata Sons’ articles of association, a selection committee is required to be constituted to identify and recommend a candidate for the chairmanship, provided the Tata Trusts continue to meet the prescribed shareholding requirement in Tata Sons which is 45% of the total equity, each of which is valued at over Rs 5 crore.
Of the five-member search panel, three members will be jointly nominated by the SDTT and the SRTT, one from the Tata Sons board and the fifth member will be an independent person from outside the group.The committee is expected to be headed by Noel Tata and his involvement will give the trusts a significant voice in what is likely to be a closely scrutinised succession process.When Cyrus Mistry was removed in 2016, the five-member committee consisted of Ratan Tata, Venu Srinivasan and three others. That was also the first chairman search panel.