Tata Trusts, a group of charitable entities that own two third of Tata Sons, would exit from the following listed group of companies, from Tata Steel to Tata Motors, by selling their minority stake in them to the holding company.
The exercise, apart from restructuring the investment portfolio, would allow the trusts to raise funds to help build cancer hospitals and invest in reasearch firms to develop nutritious foods for poorer people.
A Tata Trusts spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. The trusts own marginal stakes in Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Global Beverages and Tata Chemicals.
The trusts, whose wealth accures primarily from dividends from the holding company, invest about two-thirds of their funds in philanthropic activities including supporting institutions and individuals in fields such as education, medical and poverty alleviation.
Big Tata Group companies such as Tata Consultancy Services have already channelled a significant part of their mandatory charity spend to the trusts, in line with efforts by Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata to streamline social spending into one powerful programme.
Tata Trusts spent Rs 808 crore on corporate social responsibility activities in year 2016, as per the latest available annual report.
Total CSR spending of the seven largest group companies together was about RS 623 Crore in the previous financial year.