SP Group bats for Tata Sons listing weeks ahead of RBI verdict

The Shapoorji Pallonji Group, a key shareholder in Tata Sons, is urging the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to push the company to proceed with a listing, as the central bank prepares to deliver a verdict on the matter by the end of the month.

“This group, built on trust, integrity, and public purpose, will only be strengthened through complying with the RBI-mandated listing. While we remain in constructive engagement with the Tata Sons leadership to come to an amicable reconciliation at the earliest, we look towards the Reserve Bank of India for a decisive direction with regard to the listing,” Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, Chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, said.

As of now, Tata Sons is classified as an upper-layer NBFC and is required to be listed under the RBI’s existing directions, on which Tata Sons has sought exemption.

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Mistry further added that the listing would help unlock the value of the group. “A listing will unlock value for millions of retail shareholders, create a more defined and robust dividend stream for the Tata Trusts, and expand the social and philanthropic impact that benefits the poorest sections of our country,” Mistry added.

For Shapoorji Pallonji Group, an exit from Tata Sons would be a sort of breather, as the group is saddled with a debt of over ₹55,000 crore.

The move comes just weeks ahead of the Reserve Bank of India coming up with a verdict on the Tata Sons listing. “We are coming up with a new framework for the NBFCs very soon. New framework for categorisation of NBFCs into upper, middle, lower,” RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra had said earlier this week.

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Sources suggest that Tata Sons, which controls the $150 billion Tata Group, may get a waiver from an initial public offering (IPO).  CNBC-TV18 learns that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has narrowed down to two options to enable the waiver. “It is being decided whether to give an exemption to the front-facing NBFCs from listing. Or two, declassify them as the NBFCs,” says a person with knowledge of the matter, wishing anonymity.

In the case of exemption, they will be classified as NBFCs, but they wouldn’t need to get listed. In the second case, they won’t be classified as NBFCs anymore.

CNBC-TV18 reached out to Tata Sons, and there was no response by the group till the filing of this copy.

Earlier in 2025, all trustees of the Tata Trust had unanimously passed a resolution stating that Tata Sons should remain private.

Notably, Tata Sons has repaid debt — paying over ₹30,000 crore between March 2023 and March 2024 — and applied to surrender its NBFC license to avoid a mandatory listing deadline set by the RBI.

Tata Sons Private Ltd had a consolidated balance sheet of ₹9.7 lakh crore at the end of March 2025 and reported a consolidated net profit of ₹41,000 crore.