Noel Tata Joins Tata Steel As Vice Chairman

Multinational steel manufacturer, Tata Steel, appointed 65-year-old Noel Naval Tata, the half-brother to Tata Group patriarch – Ratan Tata, as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and an Additional Director of the company on March 28, 2022. Marking his ascent in the century-old, salt-to-software behemoth, Noel, who is on the board of other group entities, including Titan and Trent, will for the first time grace the board of a frontline Tata group company.

Tata Steel said in an exchange filing, “Based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC), the Board of Directors at its meeting held today, considered and unanimously approved the appointment of Noel Naval Tata as an Additional Director (Non-Executive, Non-Independent) effective March 28, 2022. Further, the Board designated Noel Naval Tata as the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors.”

Noel Naval Tata also serves as a trustee on the boards of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. He is also the current Chairman of Tata International Limited, Voltas Limited, Tata Investment Corporation Limited and the Vice Chairman of Titan Company Limited. Prior to joining, he worked with Trent Limited as its Managing Director for over 11 years. Following this, he was appointed as Trent’s Vice Chairman in 2012 and later as Chairman in 2014. He continues to serve as the Chairman of Trent and has overseen the growth of Trent across formats from one store operation in 1998 to over 330 stores across formats, as of 2020. He is also on the boards of Kansai Nerolac Paints and Smiths.

Noel Tata graduated from Sussex University and completed the International Executive Programme (IEP) from INSEAD, as per the company’s exchange filing. Noel Tata is the son of Naval Tata and Simone Tata. He is the half-brother of the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons and Padma Vibhushan-awardee Ratan Tata. He is married to Aloo Mistry, sister of the former Tata Sons Chairman, Cyrus Mistry.

Founded in 1907, many Tata insiders still consider Tata Steel, which reported revenues of Rs 64,869 crore last year, as the flagship of the group, though software giant TCS is bigger in terms of revenues and market capitalisation. The appointment comes a month after Chandrasekaran received a second five-year term as the Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd. The two appointments are suggestive of the fact that while a professional will exercise control over the operations of the Tata group, a Tata family member will represent the trusts on the board of directors.