00:06Hello and welcome. You're with India Today. I'm Sonal Merotra Kripoor. Let's take you to some updates coming in. This
00:11is regarding the Tata Trust and its chairman.
00:15Now, earlier today, Tata Suns Board has now approved the reappointment of N. Chandrasekhar as chairman of the Tata Group
00:22for another five-year term.
00:23All board members voted in favour except Noel Tata, who voted against the resolution.
00:30What exactly does this mean for the chairmanship, which has been much debated over the past several months, and over
00:39which there have been questions of who exactly will take over?
00:43Krishna Gopalan joins us for more details on the story.
00:48Krishna, take us through what exactly happened in that meeting, and how are we to read the disagreement of Noel
00:56Tata in this?
00:58Yes, hi. There's obviously been a disagreement between Noel Tata and Mr. Chandrasekhar for quite some time, as we all
01:04know.
01:05It's been similar to the time Mr. Ratan Tata passed away.
01:08The board meeting that took place basically reappointed Mr. Chandrasekhar, all of them voted in favour of it except Mr.
01:15Noel Tata, who also happens to be the chairman of Tata Trust.
01:18That's where the issue gets a little interesting, because two-thirds of Tata Suns is owned by Tata Trust, and
01:23to that extent, the dissent expressed by Mr. Noel Tata was not surprising.
01:28All eyes now turn towards the annual general meeting of Tata Suns, because this particular appointment has to be ratified.
01:34Whether it goes through or not is the point of debate.
01:37But one thing is clear, that full-blown corporate war has blown up in the Tata Suns boardroom.
01:44All right. Krishna, also help us understand what happens next.
01:48Is it clear now that he will be continuing for the next five years?
01:51Is there a scope or the way the entire organisation operates, that there could be another person considered as well?
01:59And in this entire motion, it seems like Noel Tata has been cornered in a way.
02:04He's the only one who objected.
02:07Well, to that extent, Mr. Noel Tata, having an objection is not surprising.
02:11The fact is, nothing is cast in stone until the annual general meeting takes place.
02:16The point is, sir, Ratan Tata Trust cannot convene because of other issues, as we've spoken of in terms of
02:21the board representation at Ratan Tata Trust coming in a serious debate.
02:25So that issue has to be taken care of before the annual general meeting.
02:28So I don't see a resolution emerging before the AGM of Tata Suns.
02:32I just want to highlight one point here.
02:33A statement has been released by Mr. Noel Tata this afternoon, where he's very clearly objected to the fact that
02:39Mr. Samrishik,
02:40to Mr. Samrishik's appointment, both from the Trust and from Mr. Noel Tata.
02:44So it's obvious that the battle lines are drawn.
02:46The appointment, we must make it very clear, is taken place with the directives of Tata Suns,
02:50which includes Venus Srivastan, that includes Saurabha Bhagawad, Harish Manwani, Anita George.
02:54So that has to be ratified to the AGM. So that gets to be super interesting at this point.
02:59Right. But, Krishnan, do we understand or are we in the knowledge of what exactly is the disagreement of Noel
03:05Tata with Mr. Chandrasekhar in the first place?
03:08As he highlighted, he had serious issues over the way the performance of Air India, Tata Distance, Tata Electronics has
03:14emerged.
03:15More specifically, Air India, which has had a loss of over 20,000 crores.
03:19He wants clarity on that.
03:20He also, I think, has objected to the high levels of capex that have taken place in Tata Digital.
03:26The fact is, most of the companies in the digital sphere are in the red.
03:29So a game plan, a roadmap is required.
03:31I think the financial performance of some of these key projects,
03:34under this, Chandrasekharan's chairmanship, is what Mr. Noel Tata has no objection to.
03:38So it comes down to the financial performance of these companies.
03:41That appears to be the fundamental point of disagreement between the two gentlemen.
03:45And when exactly is the AGM, Krishna?
03:49There is a deadline because it has to be held 15 months after the last one.
03:54So we are speaking of the last week of November or the second week of December at best.
03:58And it is absolutely necessary because Mr. Chandrasekhar's term was supposed to end on the 20th of Feb next year.
04:04This obviously is the new smoke in the wheel.
04:06So the moment the AGM is held, which of course, like I mentioned earlier,
04:09will have to take place after the Ratan Tata Trust convenes,
04:12that promises to be a pretty action-packed one.
04:16Alright, Krishna there giving us a full 360 view of what's happening there with the Tata tussle.
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