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Noel Tata’s son Neville, Bhaskar Bhat inducted into Dorabji Tata Trust board

The new additions signal Noel Tata consolidating his influence within Tata Trusts.

Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust are the two major trusts in Tata Trusts and several other smaller trusts are under these two trusts. (File photo)

Two weeks after Mehli Mistry was voted out from the board of Tata Trusts, the Board of Trustees of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) has unanimously approved the induction of Bhaskar Bhat, former Titan Company MD and CEO, and Neville Tata, son of Chairman Noel Tata, as trustees with effect from November 12, 2025 for a period of three years.

The new additions signal Noel Tata consolidating his influence within Tata Trusts. The SDTT board also decided to appoint TVS supremo Venu Srinivasan as trustee for a period of 3 years with effect from November 12, 2025, in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and to designate him as Vice Chairman of SDTT.

Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust are the two major trusts in Tata Trusts and several other smaller trusts are under these two trusts. While Neville’s name was proposed by Darius Khambata, Bhat’s name was proposed by Vijay Singh. Noel N Tata, Venu Srinivasan, former Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, former Citi India CEO Pramit Jhaveri and Darius Khambata are on the board of SDTT.

The new additions into the Tata Trusts came after Mehli Mistry, who was involved in a tussle with Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and other trustees, parted ways with the Tata group on November 4, saying “precipitating matters would cause irreparable harm to the reputation of the Tata Trusts”. A close confidante of Ratan Tata, Mistry was voted out of Tata Trusts by other trustees when his renomination proposal came up.

Tata Trusts own 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons, the principal holding company of the Tata group. SDTT controls 28 per cent stake in Tata Sons and Sir Ratan Tata Trust another 24 per cent. The new appointments were decided in the first meeting after the exit of Mistry.

Bhaskar Bhat is the former Managing Director of Titan Company, serving from April 2002 until his retirement on September 30, 2019. Bhat was instrumental in transforming the watch industry in India and was associated with the company for 36 years, starting as a management trainee before taking over as MD. He was also a member of the board of Tata Sons. He is an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad.

After graduating from the Bayes Business School, Neville Tata set out on a mission to establish his presence in the business arena. In 2016, he became a part of Trent, a company intricately connected to his family – founded by his grandmother Simone Tata and presently led by his father, Noel Tata. Within Trent, Neville assumed the responsibility of managing operations for the Zudio stores, a well-known fashion retail brand with a footprint in west and south India. His strategic foresight and unwavering dedication to excellence have significantly contributed to the growth and success of Zudio under his leadership. He currently heads Star Bazaar, the hypermarket division of Trent Ltd.

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Neville Tata is married to Manasi Kirloskar, daughter of industrialist Vikram Kirloskar.

Tata watchers say that more additions are likely to happen in the Tata Trusts in 2026 and 2027, consolidating the grip of Noel Tata. With Mistry’s exit, calm and stability are expected to return to India’s leading business conglomerate, which commands a market capitalisation of $328 billion and generates revenues of $180 billion.