Mehli Mistry to leave Tata Med Centre Trust, his 6th such exit

MUMBAI: Mehli Mistry, M Pallonji Group director and confidant of the late Ratan Tata, will not seek re-election as Tata Medical Centre Trust (TMCT) trustee when his term expires on Sept 30. This will make it his sixth exit from a Tata institution since Ratan Tata’s death in Oct 2024. Mehli sent an email to this effect to the board on September 15.He has served on TMCT board since 2017. His departure will leave the board to Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, his children Leah, Maya and Neville, and former defence secretary Vijay Singh. Singh’s term ends next year.The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which are locked in a governance dispute with the Tata Sons board, set up TMCT in 2005 to run Tata Medical Center hospital in Kolkata. It is the biggest hospital owned by the Trusts. The hospital generates enough funds to sustain itself and no longer requires fresh capital from SDTT and SRTT.Built at a cost of about Rs 700 crore on a 13-acre campus in New Town, the 600-bed cancer hospital is modelled on Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Centre and serves patients from eastern and northeastern India and neighbouring countries.SDTT had established the Tata Memorial Centre in Parel in 1942 for Rs 5 lakh and with 80 beds. After the hospital’s control shifted to the govt, it maintained limited ties primarily providing grants and representation on the council.The Kolkata hospital was previously overseen by Mehli until he invited Noel Tata onto the TMCT board in Oct-Nov 2024, after which responsibilities were transitioned to him.Mehli had exited SDTT and SRTT boards after his term was blocked by Noel Tata, Singh and Venu Srinivasan in Oct 2025, and has since stepped down from the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) and the Small Animal Hospital in Mumbai.Mehli, however, continues on the board of Tata Education and Development Trust—the richest trust within Tata Trusts —where he is a lifelong trustee.The TMCT exit extends a pattern: Mehli’s retreat from institutions built around Ratan Tata’s personal legacy is accelerating as the succession fight over Tata Sons plays out in parallel.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.