Bengaluru and Mumbai, Aug. 13 -- Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran's exit note on Wednesday has put the spotlight on the group's lack of succession planning, an issue that Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata had highlighted to the Tata Sons board at least twice in the past 19 months.

Chandrasekaran, who took over as Tata Sons chairman in February 2017, wrote to the Tata Group holding company's six-member board that he will not offer himself for reappointment when his term ends next February.

Noel Tata, who took over as the chair of the philanthropic entities that control 65.9% of Tata Sons in October 2024 after the demise of his half-brother Ratan Tata, had first enquired about succession planning with Harish Manwani, the chairman of Tata...