Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran briefs Trusts board directly on business performance, upcoming plans
Present at the meeting were Noel Tata, Mehli Mistry, Venu Srinivasan, Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata, Vijay Singh and Jehangir C Jehangir. The move to update the entire board of trustees had been initiated by the chairman, people aware of the matter said.
According to group insiders, a Tata Sons chairman never directly briefed the Trusts board during the tenure of late group patriarch Ratan Tata — it's a first. Traditionally, trust nominees on board of Tata Sons apprise the board of Tata Trusts on key developments and areas.The Trusts own a controlling 66% in the group holding company.00:19 -They comprise philanthropies endowed by members of the founding family. Nominees of Tata Trusts on the board of Tata Sons include Noel Tata, Srinivasan and Singh. Noel Tata is also chairman of Tata Trusts.
The update covered progress in the group's high-stakes bets across semiconductors, electric mobility, the consumer app ecosystem and Air India, said the people cited. Tata has committed over Rs 1.84 lakh crore in these segments in recent years.
It also included the group's response to the June 12 Air India crash incident in Ahmedabad, with details about regulatory compliance and relief measures provided to members.People aware of the matter said the two-hour discussion covered all group businesses and plans.Chandrasekaran spoke to the trustees about the progress made in units such as Tata Digital, Tata Electronics and Air India in terms of business revenue, challenges, profits and valuations.Insiders said Tata Sons may be pushing to make communication with its largest shareholder on its ambitious strategy to make the group future-ready as transparent as possible. 'The capital allocation done by the holding company in new businesses has been the largest in its history,' an official pointed out.Tata Sons did not comment.'The direct update to Trusts is a first that way for Tata Sons. The intention was to ensure all the trustees are fully apprised of Tata Sons' position and forward strategy,' said one of the persons cited. 'A significant time was also spent in discussing the help and support offered to Air India crash victims, updates on ongoing investigations and fleet safety aspects.'
Chandrasekaran elaborated on the status of Air India's compensation disbursements and assistance to passengers as well as compliance with regulatory protocols by the airline, which was acquired by Tata group in 2022 in a privatisation exercise. While Tata Trusts does not play an operational role in day-to-day business affairs, the chairman's presentation is seen as significant in keeping the trusts aligned with group-level strategic priorities, especially in areas of capital allocation and social responsibility, insiders said.'The open discussion helps open communication of group plans, priorities and expectations between Tata Sons and the Trusts,' said a highly placed executive.Tata Sons is injecting fresh capital of ?30,000 crore into its emerging ventures, including Tata Digital, Tata Electronics and Air India, as well as the defence and battery units. This funding will be in addition to the $120 billion already committed to the new businesses in recent years.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
15 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Street bullish on HUL as prospects improve, analysts eye key growth drivers
HUL reports flat sales growth in Q1 FY26 due to macro and forex challenges but maintains a positive outlook, with analysts upbeat about the company's growth prospects Devangshu Datta Mumbai Listen to This Article Hindustan Unilever's (HUL) consolidated revenue grew by 5 per cent in the April-June quarter (Q1) of FY26, with volume growth of 4 per cent, driven by rural recovery (which contributed about a third of the portfolio) and some improvement in urban demand. Net sales grew 5.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 16,320 crore in Q1. Total revenue rose 5 per cent YoY to Rs 16,510 crore. EBITDA was flat YoY at Rs 3,720 crore, and adjusted PAT fell by 4.5 per cent YoY to Rs 2,530 crore, while reported PAT rose by 5.6 per cent YoY to Rs 2,760
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
15 minutes ago
- Business Standard
PNB Housing Finance stock plummets 18% on MD & CEO Girish Kousgi exit
Shares of PNB Housing Finance plummeted approximately 18 per cent on Friday, closing at Rs 808.05 on the BSE, after the mortgage lender announced that its MD & CEO, Girish Kousgi, had resigned to pursue opportunities outside the company. His resignation will take effect on October 28, 2025, a year before his term was due to end. "The sharp drop in shares of PNB Housing Finance was a result of an overreaction by the market to the MD & CEO's resignation, along with broader uncertainty and weakness in the market. Additionally, the housing finance sector has been broadly muted due to lower interest rates coupled with uncertainty in the IT sector, which is affecting overall demand for real estate and housing finance," said Kranthi Bathini, equity strategist at Wealthmills Securities. To calm investor sentiment, the company issued a statement on Friday, assuring that its team will continue to work towards achieving the company's goals of robust growth, asset quality, and margins. The company's board will immediately begin searching for a seasoned professional with proven expertise and industry experience to fill the leadership role. Additionally, Kousgi will work closely with the board and senior management to ensure a smooth transition during this period. The company also emphasized that its strategic priorities, business focus, and growth trajectory remain intact, based on the strong foundation that Kousgi helped build. R Chandrasekaran, Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee at PNB Housing Finance, said, 'The Board will initiate a rigorous, transparent, and merit-based selection process to appoint a new leader who will further enhance the legacy of PNB Housing Finance. We are confident of identifying a suitable professional soon, who will further accelerate our strategic direction and long-term value creation.' Kousgi was appointed MD & CEO of the company on October 21, 2022. His appointment was approved by shareholders through a postal ballot on December 22, 2022, for a term of 4 years, following the early exit of Hardayal Prasad, who resigned on October 20, 2022, for personal reasons. 'There seems to be a perception that the company has faced challenges in recent times. In 2019, the promoter, Punjab National Bank (PNB), decided to divest its stake in the company. PNB entered into share purchase agreements (SPA) with Varde Partners and General Atlantic Group, but the deal was later terminated in May 2019, with PNB continuing as the sole promoter,' said an industry expert. 'Later in 2022, the company saw an early exit from the then MD & CEO, Hardayal Prasad, who left a year before the end of his tenure. This year also saw multiple senior management exits, culminating in the resignation of the MD & CEO. Additionally, guidance from the board has been quite limited,' he added. The company also saw multiple exits in the quarter, including Dilip Vaitheeswaran, Chief Sales Officer (Function Head), and Anujai Saxena, Business Head (Affordable Business), apart from the resignation of Kousgi. In Q1 FY26, the retail loan assets of the company increased 18 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 76,923 crore, with a 143 per cent YoY increase in the affordable housing segment to Rs 5,744 crore and a 20 per cent growth YoY in emerging market segments to Rs 22,701 crore. The retail loan assets of the company stood at Rs 53,123 crore in the October-December quarter of FY23 (Q3 FY23).
Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Construction of new Mumbai-Pune highway already underway': Nitin Gadkari
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said that the Centre has already begun construction of a new Mumbai-Pune highway that will reduce travel time between the two cities to one and a half hours. 'In my previous visit, I had declared that the union government would undertake road and highway construction projects worth Rs 50,000 crore in Pune district. I have asked the Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to hold a foundation laying function in the next 15 days in which work on projects worth Rs 15,000 crore would be started. Also, by the end of December this year, work of Rs 50,000 crore will also be started and studies are underway for more work of Rs 15,000 crore to be taken up,' Gadkari said after receiving the Lokmanya Tilak Rashtriya Puraskar from the Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Trust in the city. The Minister said,' A new Mumbai-Pune highway is being constructed, which will start from the beautifully constructed Atal tunnel — planning for which was done during my time — to the proposed Pune Ring Road and reduce travel time between Mumbai to Pune to one and a half hours. The work has already started as I don't have time to lay the foundation stone. This highway will then head towards Bangalore reducing the travel time to five hours from Pune to there.' The elevated roads on highways in Pune district have been planned for which work will start soon, he said adding there was no shortage of money or technology in the country but lack of sincerity of people to do the work. Gadkari said infrastructure work worth Rs 2 lakh crore was being undertaken around Pune district. 'Only I know how I managed to get land for the expansion of Pune airport. The Pune metro was also delayed, but I made it clear that the work for Pune metro should start soon.' 'There is a need for development projects in Pune and they will be done now. There will be no discrimination among cities on development issues,' he said. Earlier, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde praised Gadkari for transforming the country through a network of roads and highways. 'One of the most performing ministers in the cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi. In the past, the we had to go to other countries to see their infrastructure, but now the world is coming to see ours,' said Fadnavis. Trust chairperson Rohit Tilak said the award was conferred upon Nitin Gadkari for his efforts in nation building, which is as per the values of Lokmanya Tilak. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari recalled his experience of constructing the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and how concern over its plan was raised by former resident editor of The Indian Express, Prakash Kardaley. 'The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was to be constructed and a private company had quoted Rs 3,600 crore. I rejected the tender as it was too expensive and decided to get the expressway done by the state government itself. It was during that time that journalist Prakash Kardaley of The Indian Express asked me how it was possible to get the work done in such a low amount by rejecting the quotation of a private company. He had said, 'why should we write whatever you say?' But I told him I have a strong political will, so I will have a way to do it and I proved it by constructing the expressway at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore,' he said.
