Tata Trusts reappoints Venu Srinivasan as trustee for life amid internal rift; eyes now on Mehli Mistry’s renewal

Tata Trusts has unanimously reappointed Venu Srinivasan as a trustee for life as attention turns to the impending decision on renewing the term of trustee Mehli Mistry amid reports of internal divisions within the organisation.

Srinivasan, chairman emeritus of TVS Group, was reappointed ahead of his term ending on Oct. 23, reported PTI, citing people familiar with the matter.

A person with direct knowledge of the matter said reappointment of Srinivasan was unanimous, while another said that the reappointment is “automatic and it is applicable to all the trustees.”

The reappointment comes as the board faces growing tensions between two factions.

One faction is seen as aligned with chairman Noel Tata, who succeeded Ratan Tata after his death, and another led by Mistry, a long-time associate of the Shapoorji Pallonji family, which holds an 18.37% stake in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group.

Mistry’s term ends on October 28, and trustees are reportedly divided over whether his continuation requires unanimous approval or is automatic.

Minutes of a joint trustees’ meeting of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust held on October 17, 2024, stated that trustees would be reappointed without any limit on tenure and that those voting otherwise would be in “breach of their commitment and is not fit and proper to serve on Tata Trusts by such conduct,” one of the people said.

The resolution also noted that trusteeship would generally continue for life, to be revisited upon reaching the age of 75.

Tata Trusts, the umbrella body that controls a 66% stake in Tata Sons, oversees the group’s major philanthropic arms, including the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

The reported split deepened after a September 11 meeting of the Trusts’ six voting trustees, convened to consider the reappointment of former defence secretary Vijay Singh as a nominee director on the Tata Sons board.

Singh, 77, did not attend the meeting as his reappointment was under consideration.

Noel Tata and Srinivasan supported Singh’s reappointment, while Mistry, Pramit Jhaveri, Jehangir HC Jehangir and Darius Khambata opposed it. The dissenting trustees later sought to nominate Mehli Mistry to the Tata Sons board, a proposal that was resisted by Noel Tata and Srinivasan.

Singh subsequently stepped down from the board.

Earlier this month, senior Tata Group leaders, including Noel Tata and Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss governance issues within the Trusts.