New Delhi: Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran has resigned but will complete his current term till February 20, 2027, he said in a statement on Wednesday (August 12). The move comes after the Tata Sons board in February deferred a decision on Chandrasekaran’s reappointment due to Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata’s reservations.“Earlier today, I have communicated to the Tata Sons Board, that I have decided not to offer myself for reappointment when my term ends on February 20, 2027. I have asked the board to decide on the succession soon to ensure a proper transition,” Chandrasekaran said.After Cyrus Mistry was sacked as the chairman of Tata Sons in October 2016, Chandrasekaran was designated as the executive chairman in January 2017 and he took over from Ratan Tata who had returned as interim chairman. He took official charge in February 2017.Earlier, he joined the board of Tata Sons in October 2016, after leading Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for several years as chief executive officer and managing director in 2009. He joined TCS in 1987.“Leading Tata Sons over the past decade has been a great honour and a profound responsibility,” he said.He added: “My current tenure as the chairman of Tata Sons comes to an end on February 20, 2027. Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust had unanimously resolved and recommended the extension of my next term for a period of five years, which was recorded and recommended by the Tata Sons Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the board.”According to a Reuters report, the Tata Sons board deferred the decision on his reappointment in a board meeting in February as Noel Tata “opposed it and sought several conditions, including a commitment that Tata Sons would never be listed”. In that meeting, Chandrasekaran had allegedly said that he could not give such an assurance and would accept a deferment on his appointment if Tata Trusts preferred, Reuters reported citing sources.In his statement, Chandrasekaran underlined that the board has not taken a decision on his tenure extension even after the resolution was table in the board meeting on February 24 as “one of the board members did not support it”.“Subsequently, the resolution was tabled in the Tata Sons Board on February 24, 2026. However, the proposal was not carried through because one of the board members did not support it, and in the absence of unanimous support, I chose to defer the decision,” he wrote.“It has been six months since that board meeting, and no resolution has been reached till date. Tata Sons is a very large institution and there are many strategic projects that are under critical stages of execution,” he added. “It is not only necessary to have a leader in place to lead the group beyond February 2027, but also clarity on leadership is important for employees, investors, partners and other stakeholders.”In January 2022, under Chandrasekaran’s leadership Tata Group completed acquisition of Air India from the Union government and subsequently bought Vistara. The group, including Chandrasekaran as the chairman faced intense regulatory scrutiny after a London bound Air India flight crashed minutes after taking off in Ahmedabad, killing 260 people on June 12, 2025.Meanwhile, TCS which was largely considered as a stable workplace, has reportedly laid off 12,260 employees last year, primarily affecting middle and senior management as the company has started deploying AI and other technologies. The total headcount of TCS has gone down from 6,07,979 in FY25 to 5,84,519 in FY26, which indicates a decrease of over 23,000 employees.On Wednesday, after Chandrasekaran announced his resignation, Tata Group stocks traded with cuts of up to 4% and TCS was the top loser with a 4.12% decline followed by Tejas Network, which lost 2.08%.