And for a Friday ……for the first time in History ……the 108th AGM of Tata Sons is adjourned ……some thoughts …..some musings ……
Having started my career in Tatas as a Management Trainee in 1974 with a princely stipend of 1000 Rs …. & 14 years later as one of the youngest General Managers then ……was constrained to leave the Group ….. notwithstanding I have an abiding interest in the welfare , growth & continued prosperity of the Tata Group which today straddles as one of India’s most respected Business Houses with more than 26 Publicly Listed companies , 1.116 mn employees operating across 100 countries with revenue last year of INR 16,24,030 crores , PAT of 1,70,525 crores …… as a brand TATAS have always stood for Integrity , Valued based Sustainable Business …..whilst each company Board & MD ensures to remain as competitive & fiercely focused on Profits …. never will a Tata company resort to Profiteering …. will always be guided by principles of ESG …….its another story of why I had to part ways in 1988 from Tatas …….as my then Boss Dr. C.A. Varghese who was bought in as MD of Rallis India by Ratan Tata into the then Chemicals fiefdom of Mr. Darabari Seth …… I was a small fry ….. caught in the BIG Turf fight ….. but I stuck to my personal values & principles ……that story for another day ……
Today the Tata Group has come almost a full cycle …… Tata Trusts is an umbrella Group of Public charitable Trusts registered under Maharashtra Public Trust Act & controlled by the Charities Commissioner whilst Tata Sons is unlisted deemed Public company under the Indian Companies Act ……Ratan Tata took over as Chairman in 1991 of both Tata Trusts & Tata Sons …. struggled in his initial years ….. bitter battles & fights with the Satraps of those years ….. Rusi Modi of Tata Steel , Vijay Kelkar of Taj Hotels , Darbari Seth of Chemicals ,Tobaccowala etcetc …… one by one …..he increased Tata Sons share holding in listed companies …. introduced Tata logo branding on charges for all companies & slowly but surely broke the Fiefdoms & had full control of the Group …. nominated his own cohorts in all Boards & was in total control …. forced Cyrus Mistry out of the Chairmanship & bought in his blue eyed Chandra as Chairman of Tata Trusts ….. Now in 2026 another Tata has risen ….. Noel Tata … already Chairman of Tata Trusts which owns 66% of Tata Sons ….. he surely will bring his confidant & nominee as Chairman of Tata Sons …..his real key battle is with his B-I-L & the 18.4 % owners of Tata Trust … the Shapoorji Pallonji Group …. Will he be able to keep the Tata sons away from listing …. How does he settle the Pallonjis …. Time will tell …. That’s his challenge…..
No matter how Noel Tata settles the Group …. The success of the Tata Group is India’s success …. So let us all hope & pray Tatas continue their century old philanthropic traditions the ….. Sustainable way …. the integral way ….the SEEGOS way.