MUMBAI — Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged Tata Sons and Tata Trusts to resolve their differences amicably, stating the matter is critical for the Indian economy and must not spill into the public domain.

The dispute between the Tata group's holding company and its largest shareholder escalated after a board meeting on September 17, which saw a vertical split between N. Chandrasekaran-led directors and Tata Trusts representatives. At that meeting, Chandrasekaran was reappointed as Chairman of Tata Sons and the company was directed to proceed with a listing as per the Reserve Bank of India's mandate. Noel Tata cast the only dissenting vote, while Venu Srinivasan, a second nominee director from Tata Trusts, broke ranks to vote with the majority.

The RBI had previously rejected Tata Sons' request to de-register as a core investment company, a decision that triggered the current confrontation. Sitharaman declined to comment on whether the government would engage both sides in discussions, terming the matter "sensitive."

Sitharaman also acknowledged the contributions of the Parsi community to building the Tata brand and expressed hope that leadership would restore normalcy at the earliest. She emphasized that the issue requires commercial acumen and cordiality among stakeholders.

The finance minister's remarks come amid foreign investor outflows and growing calls for tax cuts. She noted that while the taxation structure was similar in 2023-24, when India witnessed its highest foreign investment inflows, circumstances had changed with increased net outflows by foreign institutional investors. The government recognizes growing concerns among retail investors and market participants.

"This is a very critical component to the Indian economy, and therefore, it has to be amicably settled among themselves, so they talk it out to make sure that it comes back quickly to some normalcy," Sitharaman said while speaking at the Financial Express Leadership Awards 2026. "It cannot be spilling out like this in the public. And for the maturity of that leadership, we would like to have this seen settled sooner."

PTI