Tata Trusts said to weigh Bhaskar Bhat’s nomination to the Tata Sons board, potentially shifting internal power

TATA GROUP

Senior Tata Group executive Bhaskar Bhat, who was recently inducted as a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, is now being discussed for induction into the board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, according to people directly aware of ongoing deliberations. The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, which holds around 28 percent of Tata Sons, is the single-largest shareholder among the Tata philanthropic trusts that collectively own about 66 percent of the holding company. Discussions have gathered momentum in recent days, and sources said Bhat’s name could be taken up as early as December, when the Tata Sons board is scheduled to meet, although no final decision has been taken.

Bhat, 71, is one of the most respected veterans within the Tata ecosystem. He is best known for his long tenure as managing director of Titan Ltd, during which the firm expanded from a watches business into India’s largest organized jewellery, eyewear, and lifestyle accessories company. Before joining Titan, he worked at Godrej & Boyce and later became part of the Tata Watch Project in the early 1980s. He has also served on the boards of some Tata group companies, stepping down during a restructuring over the last few years.

Tata Sons’ Board Composition

As of today, the Tata Sons board comprises six members: Chairman N. Chandrasekaran; Trust nominees Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan; group CFO Saurabh Agrawal; and independent directors Harish Manwani and Anita Marangoly George. With the Trusts allowed to nominate up to one-third of the board, adding Bhat as a third Trust representative would technically require one of the two existing nominees to step down.

An alternative option is to wait until the end of the financial year, when Tata Sons is expected to expand its board by appointing an additional independent director. A larger board would allow the Trusts to place three nominees without altering the current composition.

Bhat’s induction into the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust—alongside Neville Tata—has already prompted a broader recalibration within the Trusts at a time when several high-stakes governance issues, including the possible listing of Tata Sons, are under active consideration. According to people tracking the developments, the timing and manner of Bhat’s potential induction into Tata Sons will be closely watched as an indicator of shifting influence within the Trusts.

Mails to Tata Trusts and Tata Sons remain unanswered. Bhat denied any knowledge of the matter to Moneycontrol.

Changing dynamics 

Bhat, who along with Neville Tata was inducted as a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust earlier this month, is widely viewed as being close to Noel Tata. His possible elevation to the Tata Sons board would further strengthen Noel Tata’s influence at a time when the holding company is weighing sensitive governance questions, including the long-running debate over whether Tata Sons should be listed, one of the persons cited above said.

Another important decision pending before the Tata Sons board is the reappointment of current chairman N. Chandrasekaran for another five-year term, which comes up for renewal next year. Although the Tata Trusts have agreed to Chandrasekaran’s reappointment during internal discussions held in August, the final approval must be formally ratified by the Tata Sons board.

Relationship between the trustees do not appear to have been entirely on a stable footing in the last few months. Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan had earlier been seen as broadly aligned during the internal discord that preceded Mehli Mistry’s exit. As has been widely reported, Mistry—backed by Darius Khambata, Jehangir H. C. Jehangir, and Pramit Jhaveri—had raised concerns about information flow within the Trusts, issues that surfaced in meetings of the trustees in the months preceding a contentious meeting on September 11.

These concerns resulted in Vijay Singh not being renominated to the Tata Sons board at the September 11 trustees’ meeting. Soon after, Mistry’s own reappointment to the Trusts was blocked by Noel Tata, Srinivasan, and Singh, following which he wrote a letter to Noel Tata in which he  said he would not challenge the decision.

Fresh tensions 

As Moneycontrol reported on November 17, tensions appear to resurface shortly after Mehli’s exit, with Neville Tata’s proposed induction into the Sir Ratan Tata Trust raising new questions about internal alignments ahead of major governance decisions. Significantly, Venu Srinivasan blocked Neville’s appointment to the Sir Ratan Tata Trust citing procedural lapses, even though Neville had initially been expected to join both the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust—the two largest shareholders of Tata Sons. The Sir Dorabji Trust cleared Neville’s appointment for a three-year term and, on November 11, also inducted veteran executive Bhat. At that stage, Srinivasan’s earlier term had ended, and he was not on the board when these appointments were approved.