Tata Trusts Council meets amid protests among trustees

New -delhi, October 10 (PTI) TATA Trusts advice discussed routine issues and kept away from controversial issues, during the meeting held on Friday amid murmurings of a split among the trustees on appointment and management of board. “Today’s meeting was routine, with no controversial issues discussed,” a source said, adding that there were offers on various hospital and rural development projects. “There was no reference to past events,” the source added. The meeting comes after the top buyer of the Tata group, including the chairman of Tata Trusts, Noel Tata and the chairman of the Tata boys, a Chandraca caran, the Homes Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met. When contacted, Tata Trusts refused to comment on what was in the meeting. According to reports, the agenda of the meeting is mainly focused on regular philanthropic activities and the review of the financing proposals for healthcare projects. On Tuesday, Noel Tata and Chandrase caran met with the Vice Chairman of Tata Trusts, Venu Srinivasan and curator Darius Khambata, Shah and Sitharaman in the home of the Home Secretary. The meeting faced the background of protests under the trustees of Tata trusts on appointments and management issues, which threaten to influence the operation of the more than USD 180 billion conglomerate. Tata Trusts has a decisive influence on the most valuable conglomerate of India through the importance of about 66 percent in Tata Sons, the promoter and holder of the salt-to-half guide group. According to sources, Tata Trusts are said to be vertically divided, with one section in line with Noel Tata, appointed chairman of the trusts after the death of Ratan Tata. The other grouping of four trustees is led by Mehli Mistrry, who has links with the extensive Shapoornji Pallonji family, who owns about 18.37 percent of the Tata boys. Mehli is reportedly feeling that he was kept out of the loop of the most important issues. According to sources, it is said that the Flash Point is on board seats at Tata Sons, which controls the 156-year-old group that spans 400 companies, including 30 listed firms. The dispute has its roots in a meeting of six trustees of the Tata Trusts, the umbrella group representing several charities, including Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sri Ratan Tata Trust. The meeting on September 11 was met to regard the re -appointment of former defense secretary Vijay Singh as a nominated director in the Tata Sons Council. There are seven trustees of the Tata trusts, including Singh. Singh did not attend the meeting on September 11, as his nomination was on the agenda. After the death of Ratan Tata in October 2024, Tata Trusts introduced a policy that requires an annual re -appointment of the nominated directors on the Tata Sons Council as soon as they are 75 years old. At the September 11 meeting, the re -appointment of the 77 -year -old Singh -a director since 2012 and the trustee since 2018 -was proposed by the trusts chairman of the chairman of the Naal Tata). However, the four other trustees – Mehli Mistrub, Pramit Jhaveri, Jehangir HC Jehangir and Darius Khambata – opposed the move, which led to the rejection of the resolution. After the rejection, the four trustees tried to nominate Mehli Mistress at the Tata Sons Council, but Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan opposed the move, with an emphasis on the need for a transparent process in line with Tata’s values. After that, Singh voluntarily resigned from the Tata Sons Council.