Is Tata Group Which Is Bigger Than Many Countries GDP, Sinking After Ratan Tata?

In 1999, when Ratan Tata flew miles to talk with the American giant Ford in an attempt to rescue India's first indigenous car, the Tata Indica, from falling apart, he was humiliated and mocked. The American billionaire Bill Ford told him that he shouldn't have entered the car business. Ratan Tata returned to India empty-handed that time. But what happened next could be either Ratan Tata's stubbornness or sheer will. He did not sell Tata Motors even when it made losses. Instead, in the next few years, he ensured Tata Motors survived and thrived. He achieved it!

Time skipped to the Great Recession of 2008; the American market and economy were bleeding, and businesses were collapsing after the Lehman Brothers crisis. Ford, the same automobile giant, was on the verge of bankruptcy and in dire need of rescue. Ratan Tata stepped in and made an offer to buy luxury car brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, for a $2.3 billion cash deal. Ford grabbed the deal and said Tata did them a favor by buying JLR.

This revenge story of Ratan Tata is not unpopular and is not about failures. It is about 'rising' from rock bottom. And in the words of singer and actor Frank Sinatra, "The best revenge is massive success."

But the Padma Bhushan, Ratan Tata, is gone. And he left behind an empire that is bigger than the GDPs of countries like Portugal, Singapore, New Zealand, Kuwait, Iceland, and many more. The new ground reality of the Tata Group is uncertain, and that begs the question of whether the Tata Group is sinking after Ratan Tata.

Tata Trust's First Board Meeting After Ratan Tata:

This week, Tata Trust finally held its board meeting on May 26, 2026, nearly 18 months after Ratan Tata's death. The meeting was much-needed, as the Tata Group is entangled in internal conflicts, including trustee disputes, deferred decisions, internal disagreements, delays in board-level decisions, losses across several businesses, and legal challenges.

That day, Bombay House was flooded with chief executives of a salt-to-software empire along with board members and top-level personnel. They were all armed with PowerPoint presentations. As per reports, the Tata Sons' chairman N Chandrasekaran, gave the floor to chief executive officers to showcase Tata Group companies' performances from top-line, bottom-line, expenses, and corporate actions.

However, the outcomes of May 26 at Bombay House are not known. The next board meeting is scheduled on June 12, 2026.

Tata Trusts' Internal Battles

The cracks in the Tata Group became impossible to ignore after visible disputes in Tata Trust, which owns 66% in Tata Sons. Here's what has happened so far after Ratan Tata's death:

#	Event / Conflict Details
1	The first flame for an impending full-blown fire began over Vijay Singh's continuation as Tata Sons nominee director.
2	Trustees like Mehli Mistry, Darius Khambata, Pramit Jhaveri, and Jehangir Jehangir opposed Vijay Singh staying on the board.
3	Mehli Mistry and Noel Tata reportedly had sharp differences over board appointments. Noel Tata, who is the half-brother of Ratan Tata, was appointed as Tata Trusts chairman after his death.
4	Few trustees backed Mehli Mistry for the Tata Sons board role, but Noel Tata and Venu Srinivasan opposed the midterm changes.
5	Mehli Mistry, who was among the close associates of Ratan Tata, exited from Tata Trusts in September 2025, after reportedly losing support for continuation from Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan, and Vijay Singh.
6	Then came the Maharashtra Public Trusts (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, which caps lifetime trusteeships to one-fourth in any trust's total board strength. This was a big blow for Tata Trust, where many of its members have held lifetime positions.
7	In the days to follow, Tata Trust's discussion extended to nominee directors, the flow of information between Tata Sons and Tata Trust, and whether Tata Sons should be listed or not.

Tata Sons' Listing Fate Foggy

The Reserve Bank of India classified Tata Sons as an upper-layer NBFC in September 2022. These NBFCs are required to be listed within a three-year time frame, unless exempted from the Core Investment Company (CIC). This 3-year timeline ended in September 2025.

But Tata Sons has been avoiding listing.

As per the Tata Trusts report, when it was restricted from accessing bank funding, Tata Sons repaid all such borrowings and relied only on permitted non-banking sources. Subsequently, when maintaining a near debt-free profile became necessary to avoid listing, it repaid an amount of Rs 20,000 crore from internal resources and prematurely redeemed preference shares. Similarly, when CIC rules were tightened to prohibit investments outside group companies, Tata Sons divested its relatively small non-Tata Group holdings. These responses reflect disciplined compliance without compromising its nature as a private holding company.

RBI's latest requirement of exceeding an asset size of Rs 1 lakh crore for NBFC-upper layer is also concerning to Tata. Many oppose the listing of Tata Sons, stating that it is unnecessary to compel an over 100-year-old behemoth to grow to a certain size and reshape its structure.

Tata Sons is estimated to be around Rs 1.89 lakh crore. In 2024, it was debated that if Tata Sons were to be listed, it could debut on BSE and NSE with an over Rs 11 lakh crore market size. While its IPO could be the mother of all IPOs in India, worth reportedly Rs 55,000 crore.

Chandrasekaran's Third Term Decision Delayed

The decision on Chandrasekaran's third tenure as Tata Sons' chairman has been deferred due to disagreements between the trustees. A decision was not made on May 26, 2026, as well. Noel Tata has shown concerns related to new ventures and businesses taken during Chandrasekaran's tenure, which have recorded heavy losses. Noel Tata questioned the profitability and growth of Air India, Tata Digital, and Tata Electronics.

As per a PTI report, the unlisted companies of the Tata Group have probably recorded Rs 10,905 crore losses in FY25, which is estimated to have nearly tripled to between Rs 29,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore in losses by FY26. The former national carrier, Air India, is reportedly to have a Rs 26,000 crore dent in its financial report, followed by Tata Digital with significant losses as well.

How Have Tata Stocks Performed After Ratan Tata?

Talking to GoodReturns, Adib Noorani, an independent Market expert said, Tata Group, one of India's biggest business empires, is going through a rough patch, with most of its major stocks falling sharply - TCS is down over 22%, Tata Motors nearly 42%, and Trent a staggering 60% from its peak." The reasons are a mix of global slowdown, weak consumer spending, and foreign investors pulling money out of Indian markets.

He further said, adding to the pain, is internal boardroom uncertainty, where a key leadership decision around Chairman Chandrasekaran's continuation was put on hold, unsettling investor confidence. The group's newer businesses, from Air India to semiconductors, are still bleeding money, and markets are losing patience. Since the end of Ratan Tata's era, the emotional glue that once held investor faith together is missing, and no single announcement has filled that void. The outlook isn't all gloomy, long-term bets on AI, clean energy, and manufacturing are promising, but right now, investors want results, not roadmaps.

Hence, he added, the Tata Group of companies needs to perform and prove itself to improve the investor confidence for further consistent growth in stock prices.

Ratan Tata died on October 9, 2024. Since then, only five Tata Group companies are trading in green, while 13 stocks are in red. Among the Tata stocks that grew significantly are Tata Steel, Titan Company, and Tata Consumer. The stocks that have taken the worst hits are Tata Consultancy, Tata Elxsi, Tejas Networks, Nelco, Tata Technologies, Tata Chemicals, Tata Capital, and Tata Teleservices.