N Chandrasekaran Steps Down as Tata Sons Chairman, to Serve Until Term Ends: Report

N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons has stepped down from his position but will complete his current term at the principal holding company of India's $400-billion Tata Group, as per report. His current term ends on February, 2027.   

Tata Sons oversees more than 30 group companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Air India. The company is majority-owned by Tata Trusts, which holds about 66% of its equity.

It is earlier reported that in February, Tata Sons postponed a decision on reappointing Chandrasekaran as chairman after Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, opposed the move.

Noel Tata was seeking several conditions, including a commitment that Tata Sons would never be listed — a commitment that Chandrasekaran was unwilling to give, a per a source.

The two sides have also clashed over board representation.

Chandrasekaran joined the Tata Group in 1987, became CEO of Tata Consultancy Services in 2009, and was appointed Chairman of Tata Sons in 2017.

Over the past year, the Tata conglomerate has had to grapple with regulatory scrutiny of Air India following a fatal crash, pricing pressure at TCS and a cyberattack at Jaguar Land Rover that disrupted production and weighed on Britain's economic output.

Following the announcement, Tata Group stocks came under pressure. Shares of Tata Consultancy Services fell nearly 6%, while other group companies including Tata Consumer Products, Tata Steel, Titan Company, Tata Power and Indian Hotels Company also declined. The broader market weakened as well, with the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty trading lower during the session.

Chandrasekaran said that the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust had unanimously recommended a five-year extension of his tenure, and the proposal was subsequently endorsed by the Tata Sons Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Board. However, at a Board meeting held on February 24, the proposal did not receive unanimous support from all directors.

“In the absence of unanimous support, I chose to defer the decision,” Chandrasekaran said, adding that no consensus had emerged in the six months since that meeting.

Emphasising the importance of leadership clarity at a time when several strategic projects are at critical stages, he informed the Board that he would not offer himself for another term and urged directors to identify his successor at the earliest to ensure an orderly transition.