After the near-breakdown in communication between Tata Trusts and Tata Sons following the February 24 board meeting — convened to recommend a third term for chairman N Chandrasekaran but which failed to do so — a crucial board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, where the Tata Sons chief is likely to present a turnaround strategy for the group’s heavily loss-making companies.
However, according to two sources aware of the developments, Tuesday’s board meeting will not take up the issue of Chandrasekaran’s reappointment, which, they said, will have to wait until the boards of the main trusts meet next month. Tata Sons’ board is also scheduled to meet in the second week of June.
Both the key trusts — the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust — which together hold 52% of the 66.4% stake owned collectively by the 13 Tata trusts in Tata Sons, failed to hold their scheduled meetings twice earlier this month. The first disruption came after a person moved the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on the Sir Ratan Tata Trust’s May 8 meeting, forcing it to defer the meeting to May 16. Subsequently, an advocate approached the Charity Commissioner seeking a stay on the same meeting, prompting the commissioner to halt the meeting until an enquiry into alleged violations of state rules is completed.
The sources further said the trusts, barring the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, are now likely to meet on June 8, which may clear the appointment of a third nominee director on the Tata Sons board. Currently, Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan are on the board, but Venu’s continuation appears uncertain given the reported rift between him and Noel Tata.
“Tomorrow’s board meeting will most likely see Chandra presenting a turnaround strategy for the major loss-making businesses — Air India, which has reported a whopping ₹26,000 crore, or $2.8 billion, loss in FY26 (up from ₹10,859 crore in FY25), and other new-age ventures like Tata Digital,” the sources told TNIE on Monday.
“Chandra may also assure Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata that he will explore ways to keep Tata Sons a private entity, in consultation with the RBI and legal experts, though the issue is now largely in the hands of regulators,” they added.
At the February board meeting, Noel Tata had reportedly asked Chandrasekaran to present a turnaround plan.
Other key loss-making businesses, which collectively posted losses of over ₹10,905 crore in FY25 compared with ₹1,557 crore in FY20, include Tata Digital, which accounts for the bulk of the drag. Tata Electronics is also bleeding heavily. Together, these unlisted entities are likely to post losses of close to ₹30,000 crore.
Tata Digital, which houses the group’s digital commerce ventures including Tata Neu, BigBasket, Tata 1mg, Croma and Tata Cliq, reported a loss of ₹4,610 crore in FY25, driven primarily by BigBasket and Croma.
Tata Electronics, the group’s unlisted semiconductor and manufacturing business, is also highly capital-intensive and is projected to post a loss of around ₹3,000 crore as it sets up large manufacturing facilities. Financial numbers for these companies have not yet been officially published.
According to the sources, Noel Tata is concerned about the mounting losses as they could affect the cash flows of the trusts and, in turn, impact their charitable activities, which run into thousands of crores annually.
While the higher losses at Air India are linked largely to the June 12 crash and the closure of Pakistani airspace since last May, the other consumer-facing businesses are largely Chandrasekaran-led ventures and remain deeply in the red.
