Tata Group boardroom clash between Noel Tata, Mehli Mistry resolved ahead of meeting on October 10? Close associate makes BIG claim, 'No interest...'

The Tata Group's internal boardroom clash is nearing resolution after government intervened with a 45 minute long discussion with senior Tata Trust top officials. Noel Tata and N Chandrasekaran met Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence, and Nirmala Sitharaman was also present. The recent report claims that Mehli Mistry, who is in the centre of the clash, is not stepping away from the company and the Tata Trust meeting is scheduled to go as planned. 

Internal rift to be resolved?

Ahead of Tata Trusts meeting scheduled for October 10th, close associate of Mehli Mistry has claimed that Mehli has no interest in being appointed to the Tata Sons board. NDTV Profit reported that one source also shared that there is no talk of Mehli Mistry distancing from Tata Trusts amid the reports of clash on board seats of Tata Sons. The scheduled meet is meeting will proceed smoothly and everything will remain normal. Both parties are ready to put aside the recent controversy and move forward. 

Government big message to Tata group

As per reports, in the high-profile meet, the government has asked the Tata Group leadership to 'do wahatever it takes' to restore stability within Tata Trusts. Government is reportedly “deeply concerned” about the risk of Tata Trusts' boardroom conflict and said that internal rifts should not affect Tata Sons’ operations. Tata Sons is the holding company of India’s largest conglomerate Tata group, that contributes to 4 per cent of the GDP and pays for tens of thousands of crores of rupees as taxes.

Government shared a message that Tata Trusts' shareholding in Tata Sons comes with a “public responsibility”, given the group's contribution to the Indian economy. It has asked to resolve the dispute internally and discreetly, even taking necessary action against any board members acting as a hindrance to restore peace in the group. 

Boardroom clash explained

The boardroom conflict has threatened to split the company into two blocs, some aligning with Noel Tata's authority while other with four boardroom members led by Mehli Mistry, who has ties with the extended Shapoorji Pallonji family that owns about 18.37% of Tata Sons (second largest shareholders of group).  The boardroom divided into two groups, Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh in one group and Mehli Mistry, Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata, and Jehangir in other group, ove rthe board seats allocations.

As per report, a group of four trustees within Tata Trusts have acted as a “super board,” and ignored Chairman Noel Tata’s authority. Former Defence Secretary Vijay Singh was ousted as a nominated director of Tata Sons, and was replaced by trustee Mehli Mistry. This decision was opposed by Venu Srinivasan and Noel Tata but supported by trustees Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata, and Jehangir.  Moreover there were reports that one trustee also threatened to remove Venu Srinivasan at the upcoming October 10 meeting. This caused an internal rift with the trustees.