FM: Tatas important for economy; differences should be settled amicably

Mumbai: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the ongoing differences between Tata Sons and its largest shareholder, Tata Trusts, should be resolved amicably at the earliest.

Amid foreign investor outflows and growing calls for tax cuts, Sitharaman declined to say anything specific, stating that she is sensitive to the “louder” voices of concern.

On the Tata issue, she emphasised that the matter is critical for the Indian economy and should not spill into the public domain.

She, however, declined to comment on whether the government will take efforts to engage both sides in discussions, terming the matter “sensitive”.

“This is a very critical component to 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,” Sitharaman said.

“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 added.

Describing the issue as delicate, Sitharaman said it required commercial acumen and cordiality among stakeholders, while expressing hope that the leadership would resolve the differences and restore normalcy at the earliest.

She acknowledged the Parsi community’s contributions, which helped make Tata a global brand and also the expanse of activities that the conglomerate is invested in.Tensions had been brewing at the 158-year-old Tata group for the past few months and spilt out into the open with a vertical split between the board of its holding company Tata Sons led by N Chandrasekaran and its largest shareholder Noel Tata-headed Tata Trusts at a board meeting on September 17.