Tata Sons board may see new faces soon

Mumbai: Tata Sons may soon appoint new group nominees to its board. While Bhaskar Bhat, 70, signs off Tuesday after his last scheduled meeting of the committee, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) director Ralf Speth, 69, is set to step down soon, top officials close to the development said.

Bhat, a veteran member of the highest decision-making panel at the Tata Group, is also the chairman of Tata SIA Airlines, which owns the Vistara brand that's heading into the sunset this autumn. He may continue to be in an advisory role until the merger of Air India and Tata SIA, sources said. Tata Sons will also present the Air India Vistara merger plan to its board during the meeting Tuesday.

Separately, the holding company of the Tata Group will also have to consider new appointments to its management as Harish Bhat, S Padmanabhan, and Banmali Agrawala have either retired or exited executive roles. Bhat, brand custodian and a Tata loyalist, has retired, while Agrawala is in an advisory role in Tata Sons. He continues as the non-executive chairman of Tata Electronics.


To be sure, Bhaskar Bhat has already exited the boards of group companies Rallis and Trent earlier this year.

Following Bhat's exit, the Tata Sons board will have executive representation in chairman N Chandrasekaran and group CFO Saurabh Agrawal.

Currently, Tata Trust nominees on the board are Vijay Singh, 76, and Venu Srinivasan, 71. There is no age limit for Trust nominees on the Tata Sons board. Independent board members include Harish Manwani, Ajay Piramal, Anita M George and Leo Puri.

Among the names likely to be considered as group representatives on Tata Sons board is TV Narendran, CEO of Tata Steel.

Group watchers say Noel Tata, chairman, Trent, is another top candidate but his nomination may need Trust approvals. Noel Tata is also on the board of Tata Trusts.

Tata Sons did not comment.

FY24 Numbers
Tata Sons has sought to voluntarily surrender its certificate of registration to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after repaying more than Rs 20,000 crore in debt in a strategic move that allows it to remain an unlisted, closely held company.

According to the FY24 annual report, the net profit of Tata Sons surged 57% in the financial year ended March 2024, reaching Rs 34,654 crore while revenue climbed 25% to Rs 43,893 crore.