Wishing Mr. Vijay Singh new horizons, meaningful opportunities, and great success in their future endeavors!
In a sudden development, Tata Trusts vice-chairman Vijay Singh has resigned from the board of Tata Sons just a day before the holding company’s directors were scheduled to meet, and as the deadline for a Reserve Bank of India-mandated IPO draws near.
Tata Trusts, through its two key units Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, holds nearly 52 percent in Tata Sons, the parent of the 165 billion dollar Tata Group which has interests across aviation, automobiles and several other sectors. Singh, 77, served as a nominee director of Tata Trusts on the Tata Sons board. He will, however, continue as a trustee of Tata Trusts.
The resignation has come as a surprise since nominee directors of Tata Trusts do not have a fixed retirement age, unlike other Tata Sons directors. Executive, non-executive and independent directors retire at 65, 70 and 75 years, respectively. However, a resolution passed by Tata Trusts in October 2024 mandated that nominee directors on the Tata Sons board aged 75 or above would be subject to annual review. At a recent board meeting, this review took place and trustees supported inducting younger members onto the Tata Sons board.
The other two current nominee directors are Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, 69, and vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan, 72. Singh did not offer any comment when contacted.
This was Singh’s second stint on the Tata Sons board. The former defence secretary was first appointed in 2013 but stepped down in 2018 after turning 70, which was the retirement age for Tata Trusts nominees at that time. He was reappointed in 2022 at the age of 74, following a change introduced by Ratan Tata that removed a fixed retirement age for nominated directors.
Over the years, Tata Sons and Tata Trusts have adjusted retirement age norms to extend or conclude tenures of directors. For instance, the retirement age of non-executive directors was previously raised from 70 to 75, which allowed Ratan Tata to continue as chairman until that age.
In the last financial year, Singh earned Rs 3.2 crore as commission from Tata Sons. His exit, along with the recent departure of former JLR chief Ralf Speth and Piramal Enterprises head Ajay Piramal, leaves six members on the Tata Sons board. Under its articles of association, Tata Trusts can nominate one-third of the directors, a requirement currently met by Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan.
The timing of Singh’s resignation is significant, as the Tata Sons board is set to meet on Friday against the backdrop of the RBI’s IPO deadline for both Tata Sons and its subsidiary Tata Capital. Tata Capital has requested a short extension for its 1.9 billion dollar IPO, while Tata Sons has applied to the RBI to surrender its core investment company registration to avoid its own IPO. Tata Capital’s planned IPO, expected in early October, could become the largest in India since Hyundai Motor India’s 3.3 billion dollar issue.
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