Natarajan Chandrasekaran's decision to step down as chairman of Tata Sons, announced ahead of the group's annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled for 18 August 2026, brings to a close a near-decade-long tenure that reshaped India's largest conglomerate. While the immediate market reaction saw Tata group stocks slide, with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) shares dropping over 4% to ₹2,322 and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) also down 4%, the numbers compiled over Mr Chandrasekaran's leadership tell a broader story of expansion and value creation across the salt-to-software conglomerate.
Revenue and Profit Growth
Mr Chandrasekaran, widely known as Chandra within corporate circles, took charge of Tata Sons in 2017, becoming the first professional manager from outside the Tata family — and the first non-Parsi individual — to lead the holding company following Ratan Tata. Under his stewardship, the group's aggregate revenue nearly doubled, climbing from roughly ₹7.89 lakh crore in FY19-20 to about ₹16.24 lakh crore in FY25-26.
Profitability grew at an even sharper pace. Profit after tax (PAT) rose more than fivefold over the same period, moving from around ₹32,000 crore to approximately ₹1.71 lakh crore, underscoring a period of sustained operational improvement across the conglomerate's businesses.
Market-capitalisation and Shareholder Value
The combined market capitalisation of Tata group's listed companies serves as perhaps the clearest gauge of shareholder returns during Mr Chandrasekaran's tenure. This figure rose from approximately ₹9.31 lakh crore in FY19-20 to about ₹24.39 lakh crore in FY25-26, representing a substantial increase in aggregate shareholder wealth across the group's publicly traded entities. Notably, this combined valuation had touched an even higher peak of roughly ₹27.85 lakh crore in FY24-25 before pulling back over the following year — a pattern that adds nuance to the headline growth figures and reflects the market volatility surrounding the group in recent months.
Strategic Bets That Underpinned the Growth
The expansion in revenue, profit, and market value was underpinned by a series of strategic moves into new sectors. Tata Sons returned to aviation by winning the government's long-pending privatisation of Air India, agreeing in 2021 to an enterprise value of ₹18,000 crore and taking on a portion of the airline's debt through its Talace subsidiary. This was followed in 2022 by plans to merge Vistara with Air India, aimed at creating a larger full-service carrier alongside the low-cost Air India Express–AIX Connect platform.
Beyond aviation, Mr Chandrasekaran steered the group into electric vehicles (EVs), battery gigafactories, electronics manufacturing and semiconductors — positioning Tata as a significant domestic player in sectors that the Indian government regards as strategically important. He also pursued a 'One Tata' strategy built around simplification, scale, and synergy across the conglomerate's many operating companies, while pushing a broader transformation of the group toward digital businesses and consumer internet platforms.
Mr Chandrasekaran's own professional grounding came from three decades at TCS, formally known as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), where he served as chief executive officer and managing director (CEO & MD) for eight years until 2017. Under his leadership, TCS became India's most valuable company, a foundation that likely informed his approach to running the wider group.
Governance Turbulence alongside the Numbers
The strong financial and market-value growth did not come without friction. A substantial portion of Mr Chandrasekaran's first term was consumed by a protracted legal dispute with Cyrus Mistry and the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. During that litigation, the national company law appellate tribunal (NCLAT) had ruled that Chandrasekaran's appointment was invalid and ordered Mr Mistry's reinstatement as chairman, a decision that was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court.
More recently, Mr Chandrasekaran's prospective reappointment became entangled in governance disputes at Tata Sons. Although the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust had unanimously recommended a five-year extension of his tenure — a proposal subsequently endorsed by the nomination and remuneration committee and the Tata Sons board — it failed to secure unanimous board support after one member opposed it in February 2026. Tata Trusts, which holds about 66% of Tata Sons, and its chairman Noel Tata were reportedly in favour of a shorter, two-year executive term for mr Chandrasekaran, in keeping with the group's retirement age of 65 for executive roles.
With the matter unresolved for six months, Mr Chandrasekaran concluded that the prolonged uncertainty was untenable for an organisation running several critical strategic projects, and opted not to seek another term once his current tenure ends on 20 February 2027. He has urged the board to identify a successor promptly to ensure a smooth transition. His departure also follows a broader period of instability at the group since the death of long-serving patriarch Ratan Tata in late 2024, which has been marked by infighting among trustees and several trustee departures.
The Overall Picture
Taken together, the financial record compiled under Mr Chandrasekaran — nearly doubled revenue, more than fivefold profit growth, and a substantial rise in combined market-capitalisation, despite a recent pullback from FY24-25 peaks peaks — points to a period of considerable value creation for Tata group shareholders. That record, however, has coexisted with recurring governance tensions, from the Mistry-era legal battle early in his tenure to the board disagreements that ultimately preceded his decision to step down ahead of the August 2026 AGM.
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