The board of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) inducted Noel Tata’s son Neville Tata and Titan veteran Bhaskar Bhat as trustees on Tuesday. They will have a three-year term effective November 11.
“The board also decided to appoint Venu Srinivasan as trustee for a period of 3 years with effect from 11th November 2025, in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and to designate him as vice chairman of SDTT,” Sir Dorabji Tata Trust said in the statement.
Sources familiar with the development said that Darius Khambata proposed Neville’s name while Vijay Singh proposed Bhat’s name.
This development sets the tone for the Sir Ratan Tata Trusts (SRTT) meeting where both could be inducted in the board, said sources. The two trusts together hold 51% in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group.
The development comes a week after former trustee Mehli Mistry wrote to chairman Noel Tata bidding adieu to the Trusts after he was voted out on October 28. This was the first time the trustees met after Mistry’s departure.
The alteration in Srinivasan’s term came despite his reappointment for life due to a change in the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act that governs the working of trusts within the state. According to the new rule, the number of lifetime trustees allowed is capped at 25% of the board strength.
The appointments mark an expansion of Noel Tata’s influence within the trusts, while also advancing the rise of Neville Tata, 32, as an increasingly prominent figure in the broader Tata ecosystem.
Neville already serves on the boards of the JRD Tata Trust, Tata Social Welfare Trust and RD Tata Trust, and officials said he may also be considered for the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT). Together, SRTT and SDTT hold more than 51% of the equity in Tata Sons, the group’s holding company.
Neville, who holds a business degree from Bayes Business School, joined Trent in 2016, starting with the packaged foods and beverages vertical before going on to lead Zudio, the value fashion chain that has become one of the fastest-growing apparel formats in India. His induction into SDTT deepens his role across the Tata charitable institutions and positions him for a longer-term leadership arc within the group’s philanthropic apparatus.
Established in 1892, the Tata Trusts are among the oldest and largest philanthropic organisations in Asia, working across public health, nutrition, education, and livelihoods.