ET Exclusive: Tata Sons reported a 22% increase in annual profit for the year ended March 26

Mumbai: Tata Sons reported a 22% increase in annual profit, driven by investment gains and stronger earnings from its portfolio companies, while Chairman N. Chandrasekaran defended continued investments in loss-making businesses such as Air India and Tata Digital as long-term strategic bets.

The holding company posted standalone net profit of Rs 31,961 crore for the year ended March 2026, up from Rs 26,232 crore a year earlier, while revenue rose 9.1% to Rs 42,367 crore. The board recommended a dividend of Rs 1,10,717 per share.

At the group level, revenue rose 7.8% to Rs 16.24 lakh crore and profit climbed 52% to Rs 1.71 lakh crore. Chandrasekaran said revenue is “2.1x and profits are 5.4x their FY20 levels, reflecting sustained and significant turnaround efforts across the institution.”


Air India remained the group’s biggest drag, reporting a net loss of Rs 22,238 crore in FY26. Tata Digital widened its loss to Rs 4,974 crore from Rs 4,610 crore a year earlier, while battery venture Agratas lost Rs 1,101 crore and Tata Electronics reported a loss of Rs 1,611 crore.

Explaining the losses at Tata Digital, Chandrasekaran said, “The Indian e-commerce market shifted rapidly towards quick commerce, which BigBasket is adapting to.” While acknowledging that Tata Digital reported a loss of Rs 4,974 crore, he added that “Tata Digital’s ambitions are great and are beginning to show progress.” The business has scaled to GMV of Rs 46,515 crore within four years, while Tata Neu is being refocused on financial services, loyalty and payments.

On Air India, Chandrasekaran said the carrier faced “the most challenging year” because of airspace closures, fuel price increases linked to the West Asia conflict, foreign exchange fluctuations and the AI171 crash. However, he said “Air India’s transformation must be seen as a five- to ten-year journey,” given fleet renewal, supply-chain disruptions and the need to overhaul legacy systems and culture.

On digital businesses, Chandrasekaran acknowledged that Tata Digital continues to face challenges after rapid changes in India's e-commerce market. The company reported a ₹4,974 crore loss in FY26 but achieved gross merchandise value of ₹46,515 crore. He said Tata Neu would now focus more sharply on financial services and loyalty programmes, with plans to increase monthly payments users ten-fold while expanding lending and insurance offerings.

Reviewing operating companies, Chandrasekaran highlighted Tata Capital's landmark IPO, Tata Motors' demerger of its commercial and passenger vehicle businesses, Tata Steel's record domestic deliveries, Tata Power's expansion of clean energy capacity, Titan's international growth, Tata AIA's market share gains and Indian Hotels' record revenue and profitability.

He also pointed to milestones in defence manufacturing, including the maiden flight of the "Made in India" C-295 transport aircraft, the launch of India's first private-sector helicopter final assembly line for the Airbus H125 and Tata Advanced Systems' first overseas defence manufacturing facility in Morocco.

On Air India, Chandrasekaran acknowledged FY26 had been the airline's most difficult year due to airspace disruptions, higher fuel prices arising from the West Asia conflict, currency volatility and the AI171 crash. Despite these challenges, he said customer satisfaction and operational performance had improved significantly, with Air India achieving the country's best on-time arrival performance in June 2026 and Net Promoter Scores improving from -35 in FY23 to +42.

Calling Air India's revival a five-to-ten-year transformation, Chandrasekaran said rebuilding the national carrier would require sustained investment in fleet renewal, technology, training and customer service.

Looking beyond immediate financial performance, Chandrasekaran framed the group's investments in semiconductors, batteries, aviation, telecom equipment, defence manufacturing and AI as nation-building initiatives designed to help India achieve technological independence by 2047

Chandrasekaran said the group’s investments in semiconductors, aviation, batteries and defence are aimed at creating long-term industrial capabilities, adding, “We are building for the India of 2047,” and “the next industrial revolution is being designed and built right now, and its building blocks are silicon, connectivity, energy and security.”

Aggregate revenue has risen to Rs 16.24 lakh crore in FY26 from Rs 7.9 lakh crore in FY20, while profit after tax has climbed to Rs 1.71 lakh crore from about Rs 31,000 crore. The combined market capitalisation of the group’s listed companies has expanded to around Rs 39 lakh crore, compared with roughly Rs 13 lakh crore in FY20, generating shareholder returns that outpaced the Nifty 50 over the period.

Since FY20, Tata has tripled market value and increased profit more than fivefold while simultaneously funding India’s biggest private-sector bets in aviation, semiconductors, batteries and digital commerce—businesses that together still lose nearly Rs 30,000 crore annually.