Tata Sons Ltd said on Friday interim chairman Ratan Tata has no plan to step down from the chairmanship of the Tata Trusts at present, denying media reports on the matter.
Tata is, however, keen to put in place a process for a smooth succession at an appropriate time, the group holding company said in a statement.
Ratan Tata has emphasised that the Trusts were undertaking many initiatives that had national impact and that he was looking forward to continuing his involvement with these initiatives, the statement said.
The statement came after media report cited RK Krishna Kumar, a trustee and former Tata Group executive, as saying that Ratan Tata might leave the chairmanship of the Tata Trusts.
Tata Trusts are philanthropic organisations and hold a two-thirds stake in Tata Sons, the holding company of the $100-billion diversified conglomerate. The two biggest trusts are the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. Krishna Kumar is on the board of both trusts and is also a close confidant of Ratan Tata.
Tata Sons itself is looking for a new chairman after it sacked Cyrus Mistry in late October and named his predecessor, Ratan Tata, as the interim chief. Ratan Tata had headed the group from 1991 to December 2012 when Mistry took over.
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