NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharama on Monday called the differences between Tata Sons and its largest shareholder, Tata Trusts, a “very delicate matter” and said both sides should resolve the dispute amicably rather than discuss it publicly.Sitharaman said resolving the matter would require business acumen and cordiality. She also expressed hope that the group’s leadership would settle the differences soon.“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,” she said, while speaking at the Financial Express Leadership Awards 2026.Asked whether the government should intervene and bring the two sides to the negotiating table, Sitharaman said the matter required careful handling and declined to comment on possible government intervention.“I think these are very delicate matters, and matters where a lot of commercial and business acumen will have to work. Business cordiality will have to work. So I wouldn’t readily say, however serious the issue may be,” she said.Highlighting the Tata group‘s contribution to the Indian economy, she said the group had built a major global brand and had investments across several sectors.“I know the brand value of Tata, the contribution that the Parsi community has made to make Tata a huge global brand. I also know the expanse of activity in which Tatas are invested in,” she said.“So 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. It cannot be spilling out like this in public. And for the maturity of that leadership, we would like to have this scene settled sooner. That’s the view…” Sitharaman added.What is the Tata Sons-Tata Trusts dispute?Tensions within the 158-year-old Tata group had been building for months before coming out into the open at a Tata Sons board meeting on September 17.The differences involved the board, led by chairman N Chandrasekaran, and Tata Trusts, headed by Noel Tata, the group’s largest shareholder.The meeting took place within a week of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rejecting Tata Sons’ request to deregister as a core investment company.The board decided to proceed with a listing in line with the central bank’s mandate and also reappointed Chandrasekaran as chairman.Noel Tata was the only director to vote against the decisions. Tata Trusts’ other nominee director, Venu Srinivasan, voted with the majority.
