Before daybreak breaks over Mumbai, Mansi Kadam begins getting ready vada pav, a savoury snack synonymous with the western Indian metropolis, for the day’s prospects. One ingredient is non-negotiable: Tata salt.
When requested whether she would ever take into account switching manufacturers, her reply is a reminder of an outdated Hindi advert jingle, “If it’s salt, it has to be Tata.”
She knows little about the developments unfolding in the boardroom of the Tata group, one of India’s oldest and most influential business empires that makes everything from salt to software program.
But her instinctive loyalty factors to a query confronting the group: Can one of India’s most trusted manufacturers stay insulated from a public battle over energy, governance and control?
A latest public disagreement between the board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group and Tata Trusts, its principal shareholder, has put a highlight on the conglomerate.
At the centre of the dispute are two points – the proposed public itemizing of Tata Sons and the reappointment of chairman N Chandrasekaran. Most of the Tata Sons board, including its largest minority shareholder SP Group, supported the choices.
But Noel Tata, chairman of majority shareholder Tata Trusts, has opposed both resolutions. He maintains that a public itemizing would dilute the group’s philanthropic ethos and is probably to get both choices overturned at its annual normal assembly.
“When we say this is a governance crisis, it’s a misalignment of interests between the board [of Tata Sons] and the shareholders [Tata Trusts],” Shriram Subramanian, head of impartial company governance firm InGovern Research, advised the BBC.
While he does not expect the model’s image to be affected immediately, he flags considerations over the management’s capacity to navigate the challenges.
Disagreements within the Tata Group have been simmering since the death of former chairman Ratan Tata – Noel Tata’s half-brother who designated him successor after his death – in 2024. For many Indians, Ratan Tata’s philanthropy and management had become inseparable from the model. His death triggered widespread mourning and specialists say it left a management void in the group’s image with the public.
The Tata group has topped India’s most helpful model record by valuation consultancy Brand Finance since 2018, according to the group’s web site.
Tata Sons, the business entity, is described by the group as the “fastener keeping the many disparate elements of the whole together”.
Tata Trusts, which represents seven philanthropic trusts that own the majority stake in the group, is extensively regarded as its ethical compass, guiding the companies on social impression and philanthropy.
For many Indians, both the entities collectively make up what most firms can not buy – trust.
Now with these entities in rival corners, that is coming under pressure.
“Once upon a time, there was a unified audience which said the Tatas are good people with good governance. Today, the opinion is divided,” said Harish Bijoor, business and model strategy guide.
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