EXCLUSIVE | Tata Trusts to discuss Tata Sons board nomination, listing comments on May 16

A crucial meeting of the Tata Trusts, originally scheduled for Friday, May 8, has been postponed to May 16, sources told CNBC-TV18.

According to sources, the meeting was set to take up two key agenda items, including consideration of a nomination to the board of Tata Sons.

Tata Group veteran Bhaskar Bhat, former managing director of Titan Company and a recent entrant to the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, is likely to be evaluated for a board role, sources had said earlier.

The meeting was also expected to discuss recent comments made by both vice-chairmen, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh, regarding the potential listing of Tata Sons, sources added.

In April, Srinivasan had said a listing could become “inevitable” if the RBI classifies Tata Sons as an upper-layer NBFC, while Singh has said that the group’s expansion into capital-intensive sectors such as aviation, semiconductors and defence required fresh capital and greater transparency that a public listing could provide.

The postponement of the meeting comes amid heightened scrutiny around governance and board composition within Tata Trusts and a scheduled board meeting of the Tata Sons.

On Thursday, May 7, the Bombay High Court declined to grant an urgent hearing on a plea seeking to halt the May 8 board meeting of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust together hold roughly 52% of Tata Sons.

The petition had challenged the composition of the Trusts’

boards following a 2025 amendment to the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act that capped the number of life trustees at one-fourth of the total trustees.

The petitioner argued that the present board structure was in violation of the amended provisions and sought to restrain the trustees from passing resolutions at the meeting.

The meeting might also review the vice-chairman structure within the Trusts, including whether the role should be reworked or scrapped as part of a broader governance overhaul.

The developments also come against the backdrop of reported differences within the Tata Trusts ecosystem.

Earlier this week, the proposed reappointment of Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh as trustees of the Tata Education and Development Trust had run into resistance from trustees Mehli Mistry and J N Mistry.