To avert listing, Noel submits Tata Sons revamp plan to RBI

MUMBAI: Weeks after Reserve Bank of India directed Tata Sons to comply with upper-layer NBFC-CIC norms, Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata has proposed merging two subsidiaries, Tata Electronics Systems (TES) and Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE), with the 109-year-old holding company to take it outside the RBI's regulatory ambit and avoid a public listing.The proposal comes barely 11 days after the Tata Sons board expressed its preference for a listing to comply with RBI's upper-layer regulations for a core investment company (CIC) or non-banking financial company (NBFC). At the board meeting, Noel representing the majority shareholders had opposed a listing, arguing that alternative options should be explored.Noel's present plan marks a departure from past restructuring moves, such as the demerger of TCS in 2004 into a separate entity. It would also shut the door on minority shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji Group's hopes of monetising its Tata Sons stake through an IPO.