Tata Sons successor: Tata Steel MD and CEO T V Narendran, NSE's Ashish Chauhan in the race

Representational Image. File pic.

Following the resignation of Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran last month, the holding company of the USD 180-billion revenue Tata conglomerate has narrowed its successor search to three leaders that includes Tata Steel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) T V Narendran, Tata Sons Executive Director and Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Saurabh Agrawal, and NSE MD and CEO Ashish Chauhan, according to news agency PTI.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chief Chauhan has emerged as a dark horse, despite Narendran being the front-runner among the in-house candidates.

Chandrasekaran, who took over as Tata Sons chairman in 2017, announced last month that he would not seek reappointment when his tenure ends on February 20, 2027.

The selection committee is expected to make progress in the coming months, with the new chairman required to take charge after Chandrasekaran's term ends in February 2027.

While no decision has been taken yet on the successor, PTI reported Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata has shared the shortlisted candidates with top government leaders. The final decision is expected once the candidates are discussed in detail.

While Tata Trusts have initiated the process of finding a successor to Chandrasekaran, Noel Tata himself, could serve as interim chairman if the committee cannot conclude the process in time.

Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company of the Tata Group, with Tata Trusts holding around 66 per cent of the company.

In its statement last month, Tata Trusts had not provided a specific timeline for completing the appointment, and had only said that the Selection Committee would be initiated "as soon as possible" and would recommend a person for appointment as the new Chairman of the Tata Sons Board.

The likely contenders

Narendran, a Tata veteran with over three decades at the group, is the strongest internal candidate. He offers continuity and deep operating experience within the Tata Group having steered Tata Steel through volatile global commodity cycles, heavy capital expenditure and the difficult European operations.

Agrawal, who joined Tata Sons in 2017 as Group CFO under Chandrasekaran and currently serves as Executive Director and Group CFO has capital-markets expertise and profound knowledge of the holding company's investment decisions.

Chauhan, who is currently leading the NSE's massive Rs 30,000 crore-initial public offering (IPO) has technology, finance, institutional building and regulatory experience.

Besides, Narendran, Chauhan and Agrawal, the other candidates in the fray include Tata Sons' Group Chief Digital Officer Aarthi Subramanian, Tata Motors CEO Shailesh Chandra, and Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha.

Why is a successor important?

Chandrasekaran, while ruling himself out for a next term had said Tata Sons was a large institution with several strategic projects at critical stages and that clarity on its leadership was important for employees, investors, partners and other stakeholders.

(With inputs from PTI)