Tata Sons board set to clear N Chandrasekaran's third term, EGM next

Mumbai: Tata Sons is preparing for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) after the board formally approves the reappointment of N Chandrasekaran as executive chairman for a third term next week, exactly a year before his second term ends. The resolution marks an exception to the retirement policy applicable to non-executive roles after the age of 65. A similar waiver was granted in 2016 when Ratan Tata succeeded Cyrus Mistry as chairman. Chandrasekaran will turn 63 in June.

Tata Trusts, the majority shareholder of the Tata Group holding company, had already passed a unanimous resolution in October last year to reappoint Chandrasekaran in an executive role. Separately, the top management of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will make a presentation to the Tata Sons board next week on its artificial intelligence pivot, said people with knowledge of the matter.

This is aimed at addressing board concerns following the stock market sell-off in technology stocks, including TCS, amid rapid AI-led innovations. Increased oversight of TCS comes as global AI advancements, such as Claude Cowork, begin to threaten traditional IT services business models.


The Tata Sons board will also be apprised of key updates at Tata Electronics and Air India, executives said. Tata Sons did not comment. Officials close to the matter said his reappointment in an executive role is important to signal leadership continuity.

Eye on Profitability

It will enable him to steer critical initiatives that have seen investments of $120 billion in semiconductors, electric vehicle batteries and Air India. “Chandrasekaran brings exceptional executional capability to the table. The scale that he has brought to the group since taking over in 2017 is clearly visible,” a highly placed executive said.

For the group, 2025 was a challenging period. Tata Sons said in its annual report that the year began with optimism, underpinned by expectations of macroeconomic stability and recovery amid global growth, slowing inflation and tailwinds from falling interest rates. However, this macro narrative shifted as policy uncertainty rose sharply following dramatic shifts in trade policy. Tata Sons posted a 24% rise in FY25 revenue to Rs 5.92 lakh crore while net profit fell 17% to Rs 28,898 crore from a year ago.

The Tata Group nearly doubled revenue and more than tripled net profit and market capitalisation over the past five years, during which it spent Rs 5.5 lakh crore to become “future fit,” Chandrasekaran said in its latest annual report. Chandrasekaran has stated that by FY27, all new businesses will rank among the top five group companies by revenue and will be profitable. However, Air India, among the newer businesses, may take longer to turn profitable and faced a tough year in 2025, marked by the Ahmedabad air crash.

Dividend Income

The holding entity earns a large part of its income from dividends paid by companies in which it holds substantial stakes, ranging from 8% to 71.74%. The Tata Group’s revenue from all listed and unlisted entities stood at Rs 15.34 lakh crore in FY25, with a net profit of Rs 1.13 lakh crore while the current market capitalisation is Rs 24.39 lakh crore.

All capital allocation into these new ventures is being undertaken through equity investments and internal accruals after Tata Sons voluntarily surrendered its certificate of registration with the Reserve Bank of India last year, repaying more than Rs 20,000 crore in debt to remain unlisted. Chandrasekaran was granted a second five-year term in February 2022. A TCS veteran, he first joined the board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed chairman in January 2017.