5 min readOct 8, 2026 06:24 PM IST First published on: Oct 8, 2026 at 06:24 PM ISTIndia faces grave strategic and geopolitical challenges emanating from the crumbling of the post-World War II world order and the unprecedented scientific and technological transformations currently underway. It is incumbent not only on the political and strategic classes but also on the country’s industrial and business leadership to do everything in their power to meet them. Only if they do so will India be able to realise its true potential and become an authentic great power. It is in this context that the ongoing and bitter contestation taking place in the country’s oldest and largest conglomerate — the Tata Group — is doing nothing less than a national disservice.As a business organisation, the Tatas have always had to look at earnings and profits for their shareholders, but the vision of the group’s founders and those who followed them was never restricted to that alone. That is what led the group into areas where others did not venture. This included setting up the country’s first integrated steel plant, the first hydroelectric plant for clean energy, its large automobile company, an aviation company, and, as the digital age began, information technology, among other areas. Now it has gone into the defence sector, semiconductors, and other frontier scientific and technical areas.AdvertisementAlso Read | Tatas vs Tatas — five blunt responses and a reality checkIn all these, it is collaborating with foreign players, but if it really wants to contribute to the making of Viksit Bharat, it needs the vision to develop authentic indigenous technology that is the best in the world. That can only be so if it devotes resources to scientific research and does not rely on acquiring what has been developed elsewhere. No country allows its latest science and technology products to be shared with others. If at all, only the second best is shared, and that is not good enough for India to achieve the capabilities to be counted in the first rank of nations, on par with the US and China.That has to be the national ambition, and that is the goal that the Indian leadership, in all areas, including in business and industry, must have. Otherwise, despite all the talk of India being a pole and a leader of the Global South, it will primarily be looked upon as a market by advanced countries. This is notwithstanding all the soothing noises they may make about India’s greatness.Once upon a time, it was this vision of taking the country to the frontiers of S&T that animated the Tata Group’s leaders. That is what led to their initiatives for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science, the Tata Memorial Hospital (which became a leading institute for cancer treatment) and the Institute for Fundamental Research (which played a great role in taking India forward in the physical sciences). More recently, it made contributions to the setting up of institutions for environmental sciences, industrial design and skills development, among others. How have the leaders of the group, whether the legatees of the founders or the professionals, forgotten this past? Should they not recall this as they engage in a struggle which is now involving governmental institutions but will also inevitably go to the courts?AdvertisementThe turbulence in the Tata Group is bound to hurt the Indian economy because it contributes around 4 per cent of GDP. Once governmental institutions or the judiciary intervene, then the injury would also be to India’s business reputation. Industrial groups all over the world witness fundamental struggles in the boardroom that cripple their functioning but also sometimes lead, either slowly or rapidly, to their extinction. That the advanced world takes in its stride. However, Tata’s case will undoubtedly be looked at differently because India is still considered an emerging economy. And official intervention, once it takes place — inevitable unless the chairman of Tata Trusts, Noel Tata, and the chairman of Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran, arrive at a modus vivendi, if not harmonise their visions — will lead to a scrutiny of governmental and judicial intervention across businesses worldwide.you may likeReports of developments in the Tata Sons board and media accounts of the thinking of the two principal actors make it clear that apart from a difference in their vision for the future of the group, a personal element has entered into the relationship. Has it embittered them so much that their lines of communication have snapped?As a former diplomat, this writer is aware that when that occurs between two contesting states, all kinds of elements enter, unwittingly or deliberately, to muddy the waters. Often, the way out of such situations is for the principals to talk directly between themselves. These conversations are never easy because initially they bring out personal grudges and competing visions. However, as they proceed and if the leaders engage with goodwill, they discover common ground. That is what this writer fervently hopes that Tata and Chandrasekaran will do even now. At stake is not only their group’s future and their personal legacies but the national good.The writer is a former diplomat