Tata group leaders meet Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman

Top officials of the Tata group, including Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday (Oct 7, 2025) amid a trustee infighting over board appointments and governance issues.

Mr Noel Tata and Mr Chandrasekaran along with Vice Chairman of the Tata Trusts Venu Srinivasan and trustee Darius Khambata arrived together at Mr Shah's residence in the evening for the meeting. Ms Sitharaman was also present at the Home Minister's residence.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of infighting among the trustees of Tata Trusts over board appointments and governance issues, which threaten to impact the functioning of the $180 billion-plus conglomerate.

Tata Trusts exercises decisive influence over India's most valuable conglomerate through its approximately 66% stake in Tata Sons, the promoter and holding company of the salt-to-semiconductor group.

Sources said Tata Trusts would be vertically split, with one section focusing on Mr Noel Tata, who was appointed chairman of the Trusts after the death of Ratan Tata. The other group of four trustees is led by Mehli Mistry, who has ties to the extended Shapoorji Pallonji family, which owns about 18.37% of Tata Sons.

Mr. Mistry reportedly feels that he has been left out of the picture on important matters.

Sources said the focal point would be the seats on the board of directors of Tata Sons, which controls the 156-year-old group that includes about 400 companies, including 30 listed firms.

Tata Trusts, Tata Sons and Mr Srinivasan declined to comment on the matter and comment from Mr Mistry could not be obtained as calls and messages went unanswered.

“The key question facing the government, given how important and important the Tata Group is to the country's economy, is whether it can allow an individual to take control of the country. The infighting among the trustees of Tata Trusts has implications for Tata Sons,” a source said.