Another challenge for Chandrasekaran is negotiating the SP Group’s exit. The 18.37% holding is a financial lifeline for the Mistrys and a strategic headache for the Tatas. For the SP Group, monetising it is essential to easing its debt crisis. For Tata Sons, removing a minority shareholder whose stake is repeatedly pledged to lenders is crucial for long-term stability.

The difficulty lies in valuation. In 2020, the Mistrys pegged their stake at ₹1.75 lakh crore in a Supreme Court petition and proposed a pro-rata distribution of shares of listed companies to facilitate their exit and dodge the financial burden of a stake buy by Tata Sons. But the Tata parent company dismissed it, and quoted the value of the Mistrys’ stake at ₹70,000–80,000 crore. Harish Salve, appearing for Tata Sons, called the swap proposal “unacceptable,” though he confirmed Tata Sons was willing to buy out the Mistrys, given the risks of pledged shares.

For the SP Group, the urgency is acute. Burdened with ₹45,000 crore of debt in 2020, the group trimmed borrowings to around ₹20,000 crore by 2024, but by using the liquidity from pledged shares. In May 2025, it raised another ₹28,500 crore via high-cost three-year bonds at an annual yield of 19.75%, secured against a 9.2% stake in Tata Sons, and the SP Group’s real estate and energy assets. By 2028, the bond debt is expected to balloon to over ₹50,000 crore. Without a settlement, the financial survival of the SP Group’s businesses will be in question.

New troubles

Chandrasekaran’s leadership has also been tested by crises. He was in his fourth-floor office at Bombay House when news broke of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad. Without waiting for details, he rushed to the airport and flew to Gujarat on a chartered aircraft. According to insiders, he mobilised resources from 17 Tata companies to handle the disaster.

Though collective efforts were made, the tragedy scarred the Tata and Air India brands. “It was something like a personal tragedy for Chandrasekaran and the whole team rather than a concern in one of the businesses. Our own people and loyal customers lost their lives. There is no excuse, and [we] cannot do anything to correct it,” says a Tata executive. Air India’s fleet upgrade remains a pressing issue as well. The airline has begun a $400-million refurbishment of 67 aircraft and ordered 570 planes from Airbus and Boeing. But delivery delays cast a shadow on its turnaround.

At TCS, the challenge is subtler but equally pressing. In FY25, Tata Sons received ₹32,700 crore in dividend from TCS, down ₹1,333 crore from the previous year — the first such decline since the software giant went public in 2004. India’s largest IT exporter, which entered its slowest revenue growth phase in FY25, has decided to lay off around 12,000 employees as macro uncertainties and AI-led disruptions continue to affect demand.

For Tata Trusts, which depends heavily on the TCS dividend income to fund philanthropy, the decline is alarming. In addition, Tata Sons uses its share of dividend to fund new ventures directly. Having led TCS himself as CEO, Chandrasekaran is most suitable to find ways to reignite growth.

Elsewhere, Tata Steel’s transition to green steel in the U.K., and Tata Motors’ push in electric vehicles, are on the table as well. JLR’s ‘Reimagine’ strategy — turning Jaguar into an all-electric brand by 2025 and launching six Land Rover EV variants by 2030 — is crucial for future positioning.

Chandrasekaran remains bullish on new ventures. “Firstly, we want to pursue manufacturing excellence at scale. At Tata Electronics, we are building a vertically integrated ecosystem for technology hardware and semiconductor manufacturing,” he said in the FY25 annual report.

“We are not stopping at semiconductors or electronics hardware. At Agratas [the group’s EV battery firm], we are establishing 60 GWh battery capacity in India and the U.K.,” he added. Tata Power, too, is moving steadily away from thermal. “In the last eight years, Tata Power has quadrupled its renewables capacity, become a leader in solar rooftop installations, and set up 6,700 EV charging stations across India,” said Chandrasekaran.

Going ahead, the group is betting big on AI and digital platforms. “Together with TCS, startups and other ecosystem players, we will do whatever it takes to make India ready for the Gen AI era,” Chandrasekaran said. Tata Sons has already committed over $120 billion to new ventures, with an additional `30,000 crore earmarked for digital, defence, and Air India.

To sharpen focus, he has been realigning businesses. Tata Consumer Products was created by integrating Tata Tea and Tata Chemicals’ food businesses. Tata Capital was strengthened by absorbing Tata Motors Finance. The EV ecosystem is another example, where six Tata firms pooled resources to launch the venture.

At this critical juncture, Noel Tata and the trustees are clear that the man to navigate the group forward is Chandrasekaran. And the latter himself is under no illusions about the scale of the task. As he put it succinctly: “Every day will not be the same, but each day will demand the best of us.”

“One Tata” vision

Chandrasekaran 3.0: As he steps into his third term, the Tata Sons chairman has his task cut out