Noel Tata Opposes Reappointments of Srinivasan and Vijay Singh at Tata Engineering and Disinvestment Trust

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata Votes Against Reappointment of Trustees

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata has voted against the reappointment of Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh as trustees of the Tata Education and Development Trust (TEDT), according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Moneycontrol.

Tata cast his vote late on Saturday evening, a day before the voting window was due to close, the people said. This development further confirmed the outcome of the process, as Moneycontrol had reported on May 5 that Mehli Mistry and J N Mistry had also voted against the reappointments of Srinivasan and Singh at TEDT. Since unanimous approval was required for the reappointments, the dissent had blocked their continuation.

This appears to be the first time that Tata has voted against Srinivasan and Singh in any Trust-related matter. Moneycontrol subsequently reported on May 6 that internal Tata Trusts circulars had informed trustees that the reappointment proposals had not passed and that Srinivasan and Singh would cease to be TEDT trustees from May 10.

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The internal communications, reviewed by Moneycontrol, cited the requirement of unanimity under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950. The circulars said the tenures of Srinivasan and Singh would end on completion of their current terms. TEDT, while not a shareholder in Tata Sons, is among the more prominent trusts within the Tata Trusts network and is estimated to manage a corpus of over ₹5,000 crore. The trust focuses on education-led philanthropic initiatives, including scholarship programmes.

The vote comes amid a wider governance churn within Tata Trusts, which controls Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group. Moneycontrol had earlier reported that the boards of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust were expected to discuss Tata Sons board representation, the future of Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and concerns over the performance of some Tata group companies.

The possible induction of Bhaskar Bhat, former managing director of Titan Company, to the Tata Sons board has also been under consideration, while Srinivasan’s future as a Tata Trusts nominee director on the Tata Sons board has come under review. The meetings of the two key trusts, earlier scheduled for May 8, have been postponed to May 16.

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