The battle for control of the $265bn Tata Group hinges on a single vote — and it belongs neither to the founding family nor its powerful leadership.
Billionaire Venu Srinivasan sits on the board of Tata Sons as one of two representatives of Tata Trusts — charitable bodies that own a controlling stake in the vast conglomerate.
His stance is vital as Noel Tata, the chair of Tata Trusts, and Tata Sons’ chair N Chandrasekaran, known as Chandra, clash over the future of the group, which has been ordered to list its shares by India’s central bank to comply with rules on shadow banking. Noel Tata is trying to fight off the order while Chandra supports it.
Srinivasan has backed the listing plan and the reappointment of Chandra as group chair to carry it out, casting the crucial vote in a fight that has captivated corporate India and drawn in New Delhi.
The influence Srinivasan wields speaks to the convoluted governance structure at Tata, where every important decision depends on the support of the ownership trusts.
In effect, one of the biggest corporate fights in modern India — with potential repercussions for companies including Tata Consultancy Services, Air India and Jaguar Land Rover cars — is being shaped by some of the country’s biggest charities.
The key question is: “What do the trusts actually want?” said Sharmila Gopinath, an independent corporate governance consultant.
“Srinivasan is the dark horse,” Gopinath said. “We have no idea what he’s thinking, why he is doing what he is doing.”
Philanthropy is central to the ethos of Tata, known globally for everything from aviation to steel and services.
Much of the group’s profits are funnelled into the charitable endeavours that were integral to the founding family’s vision for the company.
By the time of his death in the early 20th century, founder Jamsetji Tata had donated half his wealth to educational charities. His children also engaged in philanthropy and today the 14 trusts fund everything from cancer hospitals to community water-purification plants. In 2024–25, 14 trusts handed out some Rs9bn ($93mn) for philanthropic causes.
By convention, the trusts are supervised by members of the founding family. Noel Tata chairs Tata Trusts and holds a 1 per cent share in Tata Sons.
“Anyone can run the trust, as long as they have the support of the majority of trustees,” a person briefed about their functioning said. The trustees are appointed by unanimous vote and until recently many of them held their positions for life.
Crucially, in terms of the boardroom fight, Tata Trusts are allowed to have a third of Tata Sons’ board seats at any given time.
With just six members on the board, that means the trusts have two nominees — Noel and Srinivasan. The two do not agree on the initial public offering, Chandra’s reappointment or other strategic issues. As a majority of trust nominees to the boards must agree on any strategic decision, this has resulted in deadlock.
A successful businessman in his own right, Srinivasan, 73, is the chair emeritus of the more than $20bn motorbike maker the TVS Group, which also owns Norton Motorcycles.
Srinivasan does not own any shares in Tata Sons but he has made clear his support for an IPO. “A public listing would not only unlock value for minority shareholders — including providing an exit route to the Shapoorji Pallonji Group — but also equip Tata Sons with capital to sustain its growth trajectory,” he told the Economic Times in April.
His influence is amplified by his contacts in New Delhi.
He runs charitable trusts in his home state of Tamil Nadu and is a large contributor to temple restoration in that region.
This has brought him into close contact with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu nationalist volunteer movement that is the ideological backbone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. Modi’s government had awarded him the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, for his contribution to trade and industry in 2020. Given Tata’s importance to India, New Delhi’s view is important for any final decision on the IPO.
Ratan Tata, Noel’s half-brother and Tata Group’s former leader, brought Srinivasan on to Tata Sons’ board in 2016, added him as a trustee and later made him the vice-chair of Tata Trusts.
Ratan, who had overlooked Noel twice when choosing a chair, “didn’t think much of Noel”, a person close to Srinivasan said. “That rubs off to an extent.” After Ratan’s death in 2024, Srinivasan was a reluctant supporter of Noel. He has also blocked Noel’s son, Neville, from becoming a trustee of one of the largest trusts.
Noel had sought to remove Srinivasan from the board of Tata Sons at a meeting of the trusts in April, two people familiar with the agenda said, a move that would have given Noel “absolute control”.
But Srinivasan fought back, raising complaints with the trust regulator about management of one of the largest trusts. The regulator then blocked Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which owns 23.56 per cent shares of Tata Sons, from holding any meetings. Without SRTT’s presence, Tata Sons cannot hold a shareholders’ meeting.
His complaint about SRTT has left the trust in what an insider called a state of “coma”. More than $3mn is waiting approval for disbursal. Srinivasan has in recent weeks filed a complaint against the second main trust, raising questions about Noel’s position as the chair and governance more broadly.
Srinivasan declined multiple requests for an interview.
“Can Noel prevail and get the trusts out of coma?” a person close to some of the trustees said.
“If he does, and holds a shareholders’ meeting, two things will happen: Srinivasan will be removed and Chandra’s directorship won’t get renewed.
“But until he can get Srinivasan out, nothing will happen.”
Additional reporting by Michael Stott in New Delhi