The much-talked-about Tata Sons board meeting to discuss among other things the holding company’s listing and plans for turnaround at loss-making ventures is underway at the Tata headquarters Bombay House in South Mumbai.
The meeting, which has all six board members – chairman N Chandrasekaran, Tata Trusts nominee directors Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan, executive director and chief financial officer Saurabh Agrawal, and independent directors Anita George and Harish Manwani started around 10:30 am today.
The meeting is expected to bring two of the conglomerate’s most contentious issues to the table: whether the group’s holding company can continue to remain privately held, and how long it can absorb mounting losses from newer businesses such as Air India and Tata Digital.
Noel Tata had earlier raised concerns around losses at new businesses, an exit route for the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, and assurances that Tata Sons would remain unlisted. Chandrasekaran is expected to make detailed presentations before the board on Air India and newer ventures including BigBasket.
Decision on future of loss making ventures
The financial strain from Tata Sons’ newer ventures has emerged as a major flashpoint within the group. Aggregate losses across these businesses are estimated at around Rs 29,000 crore in FY26, far exceeding earlier internal estimates.
A large part of the concern centres on Tata Digital, the umbrella entity for platforms such as BigBasket, Tata 1mg, Croma, Tata CLiQ and Tata Neu, into which Tata Sons has already deployed more than Rs 24,000 crore, including acquisitions, without achieving profitability so far. Tata Digital is often looked at as N Chandra’s brainchild, and losses at the new-age business unit may have significant bearing on securing him a third term as chairman as his current tenure approaches its end in February 2027.
Air India remains one of the group’s largest financial commitments following the airline’s acquisition from the government in 2022 and the subsequent consolidation of AirAsia India and Vistara into the carrier. The airline is also at the centre of one of the aviation industry’s largest fleet expansion plans, involving orders for 470 aircraft placed in 2023 and an additional 100 Airbus aircraft announced later.
Air India is estimated to have reported losses of nearly $3 billion in FY26 amid foreign exchange volatility, higher fuel expenses and disruption-related costs. The scale of these commitments, alongside integration and turnaround costs, has increasingly sharpened questions within Tata Trusts around capital allocation and return timelines.
Apart from the loss-making ventures, Chandra is also expected to present plans for new ventures like the semiconductor business and the EV business.
To List or Not to List – that’s the question
The listing question has emerged as the sharpest pressure point within the Tata ecosystem. Tata Sons was classified as an upper-layer non-banking financial company (NBFC) in September 2022, triggering a requirement to list by September 2025. The company subsequently applied to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for deregistration and exemption from the listing mandate after repaying more than Rs 20,000 crore of standalone debt.
However, the RBI’s recent regulatory clarification has significantly narrowed Tata Sons’ argument. The regulator has adopted a “look-through” approach that considers indirect access to public funds through group companies such as TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Power, all of which raise capital from public markets. Tata Sons, which sits atop a corporate structure with assets of about Rs 1.75 lakh crore, remains classified as an upper-layer NBFC, strengthening the possibility of a listing.