Tata Group officials meet Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman amid boardroom conflict

Top Tata Group officials met Union Ministers Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, amid a boardroom conflict afflicting India's most reputed conglomerate, PTI reported citing sources.

Tata Trusts has 66% stake in Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. --- the promoter of the salt-to-software conglomerate. (Reuters)

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran—along with Tata Trusts Vice Chairman Venu Srinivasan and trustee Darius Khambata—arrived at Shah's residence for the meeting. Sitharaman joined in later.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of infighting among the trustees of Tata Trusts over board appointments and governance issues.

“The primary question for the government, considering how significant and important the Tata Group is to the country's economy, is whether it can let an individual take control of it,” PTI quoted a source as saying. “The infighting among trustees of Tata Trusts has an impact on Tata Sons.”

Tata Trusts is said to be vertically split, with one section aligned with Noel Tata. The other grouping of four trustees is led by Mehli Mistry, who has ties with the extended Shapoorji Pallonji family, which owns about 18.37% of Tata Sons. Mehli reportedly feels he has been kept out of the loop on key matters.

The conflict is over board seats at Tata Sons, which controls the 156-year-old group that spans around 400 companies, including 30 listed firms. Tata Trusts exerts decisive influence over the $180-billion conglomerate due to its nearly 66% stake in Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd.

Tata Trusts, Tata Sons and Venu Srinivasan had declined to comment on the matter. Calls and messages to Mehli Mistry remained unanswered.