Mumbai: Tata employees are the “inheritors” and “custodians” of Tata Trusts, said chairman Ratan Tata. Tata Trusts (Trusts) is the largest shareholder of Tata Sons , the holding company of the $104-billion airline-to-automobile conglomerate.

In a letter to 6.6 lakh-plus employees on the 178th birth anniversary of group founder Jamsetji Tata , the septuagenarian said, “This year also marks the completion of 125 years of Tata Trusts. As one of the largest stakeholder communities for the Trusts, you, as Tata employees, have played an important role in making the legacy come alive and that we hope you are proud of our group’s capacity of thinking beyond business…As employees of the group, you are the inheritors and custodians of the Trusts and of (its) belief in making a sustainable change in society”.

The seeds of Trusts were sown by Jamsetji in 1892 with the setting up of the JN Tata Endowment Scheme to support students for higher studies abroad. The Trusts, which today consists of 14 charitable organisations — the largest foundation in the country — spent Rs 750 crore on a range of philanthropic activities in fiscal 2016. Unlike other foundations that are family owned and through which the members hold stakes in companies, the Trust is the only public charitable organisation that runs a business group.

The Trusts is governed by the Bombay Public Trusts Act, Income Tax Act and Companies Act and has been given an exception to not only hold shares in a commercial venture but is also exempted from income tax. Besides Tata Sons, the Trusts also holds shares in Indian Hotels, Tata Motors and other Tata entities. A new Trusts logo was also launched on Friday.

The Trusts is in a legal battle with former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry who has claimed poor governance and mismanagement within the conglomerate. The National Company Law Tribunal will announce its decision next week. The 178th birth anniversary of Jamsetji was kicked in by Ratan Tata and new Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran in Jamshedpur, which houses Tata Steel — the first company to bear the Tata name.

