India, Aug. 14 -- Bombay House has a succession problem.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran's decision on Wednesday to walk away from a third term as chairman of Tata Sons - announced days before the holding company's annual general meeting (AGM) on Tuesday - has cracked open a question the group has skirted for months: who runs the salt-to-software conglomerate after February 2027, and on whose terms?

The process lies in Article 118 of Tata Sons' Articles of Association. It requires the constitution of a five-member selection committee whenever the Tata Trusts hold at least 40% of the paid-up ordinary capital. They currently hold 65.9%, split across 13 charities, of which two - the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT...