Athira Sethu
Kochi, 13 August 2026
Tata Sons is planning to kick-start the search process for its next chairman as N Chandrasekaran has not decided to seek reappointment for another term. This is due to the expiry of his term on February 20, 2027.
A series of processes will be followed while appointing the next chairman. They will follow certain rules outlined in the Articles of Association of the Company. The Tata Trusts will be a significant player since it owns a majority stake in Tata Sons.
As per Article 118, Tata Sons should constitute a five-member Selection Committee only if Tata Trusts collectively hold more than 40% of ordinary shares of Tata Sons.
This five-member Selection Committee will include three members appointed by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust; one member would be from the Board of Tata Sons; while the other independent member would be nominated by the Board.
Similarly, the Tata Trusts will select the Chairman of this Selection Committee from the three nominees put forward by themselves. The committee will analyze different possibilities and recommend one name for the position of chairperson.
But this committee won’t have the last word. The decision about the appointment will be made by the Tata Sons board according to the voting procedure specified in Article 121.
There is another significant regulation that can influence the appointment of the new Chairman. In 2022, the company amended its regulations so as to divide the leadership of the Tata Trusts and Tata Sons.
According to them, neither the chairman of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust nor the chairman of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust can be appointed as the chairman of Tata Sons. It means Noel Tata, the chairman of the Tata Trusts, cannot be appointed as the chairman of Tata Sons according to the existing regulations.
This situation happened before as well. Cyrus Mistry was chosen after the search lasting more than a year. He became the deputy chairman of Tata Sons in 2011 and succeeded Ratan Tata in 2012.
Following Mistry’s ouster in 2016, a new five-member committee was formed by Tata Sons to find him a successor. Eventually, N Chandrasekaran, who at that time was the CEO of Tata Consultancy Services, got the nod and became the executive chairman of Tata Sons from January 2017 onwards.
Moving on, since N Chandrasekaran’s retirement is scheduled for February 2027, Tata Sons is expected to conduct a similar procedure to select their next chairman. The selection process would be highly scrutinized since the chairman would have a significant say in shaping the future of the Tata Group.
