Noel Tata's daughters Maya and Leah appointed to Sir Ratan Tata Industrial Institute board: Report

Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata's daughters Maya and Leah have been appointed to the board of trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Industrial Institute (SRTII). SRTII is a unit of Sir Ratan Tata Trust that aims to provide employment for women.

Maya and Leah Tata have replaced the outgoing trustees, Arnaz Kotwal and Freddy Talati, The Economic Times reported. Following this development, Noel Tata's children are on the boards of all the smaller Tata Trusts. However, they have yet to be appointed to the two main trusts, Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Allied Trusts and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Allied Trusts.

Noel Tata was appointed as the chairman of Tata Trusts in October 2024. He has three children: Leah, Maya and Neville Tata.

Internal rift

The appointment of Maya and Leah Tata has resulted in an internal rift with Arnaz Kotwal, who wrote to his fellow trustees complaining about how she was asked to resign to allow the appointment of new trustees.

"Since I am now in Dubai and after considerable thought, I have acceded to Burjis's request but was very saddened that none of you reached out to speak with me directly about this matter and I was blindsided by this communication from a virtual stranger under the direction of his CEO, Sidharth Sharma, both of whom have no nexus to SRTI," the report said quoting Kotwal's letter addressed fellow trustees.

In an email to Taraporewala, an executive at Tata Trusts, Kotwal claimed that she had resigned as asked by him (Taraporewala) on Noel Tata's insistence. She also stated that she had received a call from Mehli Mistry--trustee of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust-- regarding the same issue. Mehli Mistry is also the first cousin of the late Cyrus Mistry, former chairperson of the Tata Group.

Leah and Maya Tata were nominated as replacements for Freddy Talati, who is with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), and Arnaz Kotwal, who relocated to Dubai and is working with VFS Global, the report said.