Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh To Exit Tata Education Trusts As Mehli Mistry Opposes Reappointment

Chairman emeritus of TVS Motor Venu Srinivasan and former bureaucrat Vijay Singh are set to exit as trustees of the Tata Education and Development Trust (TEDT), marking a significant shift in the leadership of one of the group’s key philanthropic bodies.

The development follows opposition to their reappointments by fellow trustee Mehli Mistry during internal voting.

The decision effectively blocks their continuation, as TEDT’s rules require unanimous approval from all trustees for any reappointment.

With dissenting votes in place, both Srinivasan and Singh are unlikely to secure another term once their current tenure ends.

TEDT is a prominent entity within the Tata Trusts ecosystem, which collectively holds a majority stake in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group.

The trust plays a key role in driving education-focused philanthropic initiatives and manages a sizable corpus.

The exit also comes against the backdrop of rising internal differences within Tata Trusts, with governance and board representation increasingly becoming points of contention.

Srinivasan, who currently serves as vice-chairman of Tata Trusts, may see implications for his broader role within the group, although clarity on that front remains limited.

Meanwhile, Singh, a former bureaucrat, has also been part of the trust’s decision-making structure.

The development is the latest show of differences between Mistry and Srinivasan and Singh.

Mistry had earlier challenged the appointment of Srinivasan and Singh as trustees of the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution.

While Srinivasan had resigned from the trust, Singh continued to hold the post.

Mistry had challenged their appointment on the basis of eligibility norms of the trust deed. He claimed that the rules required the trustees to be of Zoroastrian faith.

However, Tata Trusts had decided to correct the restrictive clauses in the trust deed.

Recently, Srinivasan had also publicly favoured the idea of public listing of Tata Sons as per the RBI’s norms for upper-layer NBFCs.