Tata Trusts to build 40-50 not-for-profit hospitals, says chairman, as philanthropy shifts to proving impact

Mumbai: Tata Trusts, India's largest philanthropic group, is working toward a network of 40 to 50 not-for-profit general hospitals in which paying patients help fund care for those who cannot afford it.

Chairman Noel Tata, in the Trusts' Annual Report for 2025-26, said that the group will also build lasting public institutions and be judged on measurable results, not money spent.

In his letter, Tata wrote that it is no longer enough to ask how much the Trusts have contributed.


He said they must show what difference their work has made and whether it will last, and that philanthropy should move beyond counting people reached or amounts spent.

He also said that trying to become the biggest before becoming the best "rarely ends well".

The Trusts outlined a five-year healthcare strategy for 2026-2031, targeting 25 lakh people across about 75 blocks and strengthening more than 100 public health facilities.

Tata said the Trusts will continue to support families facing medical crises and to expand distributed cancer care that brings treatment closer to where people live. In FY26, the cancer care programmes recorded 1,06,626 outpatient consultations, 24,874 chemotherapy cycles and 2,879 surgeries.

Tata said talented young Indians often leave to pursue opportunities not available at home, and that India needs more institutions to nurture them.

The Trusts have incubated several institutions of national importance and will keep doing so.

He said they may also seek out other philanthropies and like-minded organisations to share that work and partner with them.

Tata cited the Indian Institute of Science, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Tata Memorial Hospital as examples of the founders' institution-building.

The Trusts collectively own 66 per cent of Tata Sons, the holding company that controls the group's largest listed companies, and Noel Tata succeeded Ratan Tata as chairman.

He wrote that philanthropy in India is changing as a new generation of entrepreneurs brings more ambition to social causes, and that older institutions must respond with a higher standard of effectiveness and accountability.