New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- Natarajan Chandrasekaran announced his resignation as the chairman of Tata Sons on Wednesday, after leading the salt-to-software conglomerate for more than nine years. 63-year-old Chandrasekaran, who still had six months left before his second five-year term as chairman of Tata Sons came to an end in February 2027, told the board that he would not offer himself for another term.

While it was widely expected that Chandrasekaran, who spent 40 years with the Tata Group, would leave after the end of his second term, his announcement came as a surprise to many. As the one-and-a-half-century-old conglomerate faces a leadership vacuum at a time when it is facing several turbulences, it has also brought the focus back to th...