Synopsis
Separately, Aparna Uppaluri has stepped down from her role as COO of Tata Trusts citing personal reasons. Uppaluri was appointed in April 2023, and was the first to hold that role in Tata Trusts. Siddharth Sharma, who was appointed CEO of Tata Trusts at the same time, remains in his position. Tata Trusts is understood to be looking for a successor to Uppaluri, executives close to the matter said.
Tata Trusts has set up an executive committee (EC) comprising chairman Ratan Tata, vice chairmen Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh, and trustee Mehli Mistry, said people with knowledge of the matter. The move is aimed at expediting decision making on a day-to-day basis without having to go to the entire board for approvals and ratification, given that there are over 18 trustees across all trusts. Tata Trusts is the controlling shareholder of Tata Sons, the Tata Group’s holding company.
Separately, Aparna Uppaluri has stepped down from her role as COO of Tata Trusts citing personal reasons. Uppaluri was appointed in April 2023, and was the first to hold that role in Tata Trusts. Siddharth Sharma, who was appointed CEO of Tata Trusts at the same time, remains in his position. Tata Trusts is understood to be looking for a successor to Uppaluri, executives close to the matter said.
About 66% of the equity capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the Tata family. The biggest of these are the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Tata Trusts currently has over 18 trustees across various trusts, headed by Ratan Tata, 87, as chairman. He is also chairman emeritus of Tata Sons.
Tata Trusts didn’t comment.
Uppaluri was understood to be working closely with the management to restructure the trusts, India’s oldest philanthropic organisations. Tata Trusts has been evolving from a grant-giving entity to directly implementing projects on the ground by partnering large organisations through public and private partnerships, officials close to the trusts said.
Operational Efficiency
The move is part of its shift in focus to outcome-based funding to create scalable and measurable impact and assess outcomes, they said, seeking anonymity.
Mehli Mistry, seen as a confidant of Ratan Tata, joined Tata Trusts in October 2022. He has been actively involved in managing the trusts, said executives close to the development. He’s also a first cousin of the late Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted as Tata Sons chairman in 2016.
Such executive committees are allowed under certain circumstances, said Anand Desai, managing partner of law firm DSK Legal.
Under Section 47 of the Indian Trust Act, such a committee can conduct duties where the instrument of the trust so provides, the delegation is in the regular course of business or the delegation is necessary, he said.
“Other than these, a trustee cannot delegate his office or any of his duties either to a co-trustee or to a stranger under the law,” Desai said.
Boards typically set up such executive committees to improve operational efficiency, said Rajesh Narain Gupta, Managing Partner of law firm SNG & Partners.
“In many cases, the board takes macro decisions and such executive committees… implement those decisions at a micro level while keeping the board updated on the actions in subsequent board meetings,” he said. “Trustees are not expected to abdicate their functions and continue to be responsible for the actions of such committees.”
Vijay Singh and TVS Group chairman Venu Srinivasan were appointed vice chairmen in 2018 as part of the Tata Trusts’ corporate governance and succession planning exercise. Singh and Srinivasan, who were trustees earlier, are also the representatives of the Tata Trusts on the board of the group’s holding company Tata Sons.
