Six Parsi and Zoroastrian organizations asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defend Tata Sons’ stewardship model amid listing debate, The Indian Express, Moneycontrol and NDTV Profit reported after reviewing their Oct. 7 letter.
The organizations expressed support for Tata Trusts and the Tata family, the outlets reported. They argued that market expectations around a possible listing could influence the holding company’s long-term direction and wider purpose.
The signatories were the Bombay Parsi Punchayet; the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India; the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America; the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe; the Global Council of Zoroastrians Trust; and the World Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce.
Tata Trusts said it holds a 66% stake in Tata Sons and opposes a public listing. The Trusts said a communication from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), received on Sept. 11, was discussed at a Tata Sons board meeting on Sept. 17, and that the board would assess its options.
The RBI classified Tata Sons as an upper-layer nonbanking financial company (NBFC) in a Jan. 16, 2025, list. The central bank said at the time that Tata Sons’ application to deregister was under examination.
A separate dispute concerns the board’s vote to reappoint N. Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons chairman. Tata Trusts called the Sept. 17 resolution invalid. Reuters reported that Tata Sons told Noel Tata the decision was valid under the company’s rules.
On Sept. 28, Tata Trusts proposed merging Tata Electronics Systems Solutions Private Limited and Tata Consulting Engineers into Tata Sons. The Trusts said the resulting company would no longer qualify as an NBFC or a core investment company, presenting the reorganization as a way to keep Tata Sons unlisted. The plan would require seeking an RBI no-objection certificate, the Trusts said.
