In order to replace ageing directors with younger ones and update the company's 70-year retirement policy, Tata initially made this change in 2000.

To unify activities under one roof, Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Trusts, has made a number of modifications to Tata Sons, the holding company for the business. The patriarch of the group has made a number of choices since 1991, including the most recent revision to the articles of association (AoA) of Tata Sons that splits the chairmanships of Tata Trusts and Tata Sons. This aided Tata Sons in continuing to follow the revised standards for corporate governance.

Tata, who served as chairman of Tata Sons from 2008 to 2012, would be the final person to occupy the chairman positions in both Tata Trusts and Tata Sons due to recent changes in the AoA. Tata Trusts owns 66% of Tata Sons, and the remaining 12.87% is held by other Tata group firms. The holding company for the group is 18.37 per cent owned by the Mistry family. The Tata family and other small owners own the remaining shares.

Tata's career was launched by the contentious expulsion of several satraps from Tata Group firms. In 1998, he also demanded that Tata Group companies pay 0.25 per cent of their earnings to Tata Sons as brand fees in order to utilise the Tata name."The plan was to increase Tata Sons' ownership of several group firms using the money. In the 1990s, the stakes were uncomfortably low, according to a former Tata executive.

In order to replace senior directors with younger ones and implement a 70-year retirement programme, Tata first made this change in 2000. However, Tata Sons revised its retirement policy once more in July 2005 to allow non-executive directors to serve on the board for 75 years. As a result, Tata was able to continue serving as chairman until he turned 75 in 2012.

Tata, who was 67 at the time (in 2005), was scheduled to retire a few years later on his 70th birthday, and the rise in the retirement age essentially resolved the succession issue. At the annual general meeting (AGM) of Tata Sons in September 2000, the Tata group announced various revisions to Articles 104B and 121 through a new version of the AoA.

In April 2014, Article 121 was changed once more. This gave the two trusts the right to propose one-third of the Tata Sons Board of Directors' directors with veto power. Following Cyrus Mistry's dismissal from the Tata Sons board in October 2016, the firm changed its status to privately limited in 2017, making it challenging to transfer shares. Going privately placed restrictions on Mistry's ability to sell the shares to any third party without first obtaining Tata Group's approval.

The retirement policy of Tata Sons underwent another revision at the beginning of the year. The trust-nominated director's retirement age cap was eliminated. With this, Tata ally and former bureaucrat Vijay Singh re-joined the board of Tata Sons. Shareholders of Tata Sons approved yet another change to the AoA. This makes it possible for the positions on the boards of Tata Sons and Tata Trust to continue to be distinct. According to sources at Tata, this is a good-governance approach and separates management from ownership.

A person who is also the chairman of either (or both) of the trusts cannot be the chairman of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, according to the amended articles. It appears that the purpose of the amendment is to formally implement the decoupling, which was often done after 2012. The change affirms the group's values, which include encouraging autonomous management and having excellent corporate governance, according to DSK Legal partner Gaurav Mistry.