Tata Trusts To Appoint CEO And COO

For the first time in the history of the management structure of the 104-year-old foundation, Tata Trusts will adopt the CEO and COO system. While the role of the CEO was established in April 2020, it has now decided to create the COO designation, to help improve corporate governance.

At a Tata Trusts meeting on 21st January, 2023, the board of trustees, led by chairman Ratan Tata, decided upon installing the CEO-COO structure to ensure greater oversight on fund allocation (Tata Trusts has an annual distribution grant of over Rs 1,800 crore) and better governance standards at the foundation. Unlike in the past, where Tata Trusts offered education, medical and other grants only to individuals and institutions, it now supports large-scale projects like a Cancer Care Hospital Chain pan-India. It has granted more than Rs 1,000 crore over the last few years for building cancer care facilities and strengthening existing infrastructure in India.

On 24th January, 2023, Tata Trusts appointed Siddharth Sharma as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Trusts and Aparna Uppaluri as the Chief Operating Officer (COO). Their appointment comes into effect from 1 April, 2023, as per a statement released by Tata Trusts, which holds 66% stake in Tata Sons.

54-year-old Sharma, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Tata Sons, will succeed N Srinath, who stepped down from the CEO’s post in 2022, following his retirement. The company will create the COO post for the first time to accommodate Uppaluri, currently the Programme Director for India, Nepal and Sri Lanka at the Ford Foundation.

Sharma has been in government service for two decades where he handled important assignments in key ministries of the government, and as the financial advisor to the 13th and 14th Presidents of India. He subsequently joined the Tata group where he has been heading the newly formed sustainability portfolio. Aparna Uppaluri is a well-regarded professional with exposure in strategic planning and programme development in the fields of philanthropy, women’s rights, public health, arts, and culture. With over twenty years of leadership and management experience, she has led the grant making initiatives at the Ford Foundation to advance programmatic commitment to strengthen gender justice and has also served as program director to oversee different verticals at the Ford foundation.