00:00But let's turn to the story that's breaking at this moment. Noel Tata has made a counter move in the
00:07Tata power tussle that continues to escalate by the day.
00:11Days after the Reserve Bank of India insisted on the listing of Tata sons, Tata trusts have now proposed the
00:20merger of Tata electronic solutions, Tata consulting engineers with Tata sons to shed the NBFC status that might now allow
00:30it not to go ahead and list.
00:32Earlier, the Tata sons board, remember, had approved the public listing of the firm as suggested by the RBI, a
00:38move opposed by Noel Tata, who holds a majority in Tata trust.
00:44During the same meeting, N. Chandrasekharan's extension was approved as chairman of Tata sons.
00:50The Tata trust chief, Noel Tata, has opposed the move.
00:54A power struggle continues at the very top of India's iconic company, Krishna Gopalan, our correspondent from business today, now
01:02joins us.
01:02Krishna, what does the latest move by Noel Tata mean? A quick answer.
01:07Well, he's obviously suggesting a simplified structure where two operating companies will get merged into Tata sons and obviously will
01:14remain outside the purview of being a core investment company or NBFC.
01:17So, he's obviously thrown the ball back into the court of Tata sons to say, almost as if this is
01:24something they should have thought of much earlier because the board of Tata sons actually have done a U-turn
01:28where they actually oppose the listing and they favor the listing.
01:31So, Noel Tata now is suggesting a simplified way out to say that if this particular reorganization works, the threat
01:38or challenge of listing does not need to be addressed at all.
01:43So, from what you're saying, Noel Tata continues in a way to wage the battle, that he's not giving up.
01:48Am I correct?
01:50Most certainly. And especially after the last board meeting where Chandrasekharan was reappointed for a period of five years.
01:56Of course, that appointment has been ratified by the board of Tata sons, by the AGM of Tata sons as
02:01well.
02:01But he's fundamentally decided to throw the gauntlet where he says this is simplified structure and this is a clear
02:06point of contention where the listing of Tata sons was almost made mandatory by RBI.
02:10And Noel Tata now is suggesting a scenario where he believes it can be circumvented.
02:17Right. Krishna Gopalan, for joining us on that breaking news on the latest of the Tata's power struggle, thanks very
02:24much for joining me.
