Kolkata: Despite the headline-grabbing losses of the Tatas, Tata Sons, the holding company of the industrial empire, has posted a net profit of Rs 31,961 crore in FY26 which has translated into a dividend of Rs 1,10,717 per share of the closely-held entity. In the last six years, the market value of Tata Group companies has grown three-fold and the profits have surged more than fivefold. India’s largest conglomerate has made huge investments in aviation, semiconductors, batteries, and digital commerce, which are still losing a cumulative amount of Rs 30,000 crore a year. Air India remained the biggest challenge for the group, reporting a net loss of Rs 22,238 crore in FY26.
Tata Sons has come up with a 22% jump in profit in FY26. The annual report of the holding company states this increase was triggered by investment gains and improved earnings from portfolio companies. In a letter accompanying the report, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran defended continued investments in loss-making businesses like Air India and Tata Digital, calling them strategic long-term bets.
The net profit of Tata Sons in FY26 was Rs 31,961 crore against Rs 26,232 crore a year earlier. Revenue rose 9.1% to Rs 42,367 crore. The board recommended a dividend of Rs 110,717 per share. incidentally, The total market cap of all the listed Tata companies jumped from Rs 13 lakh crore in FY20 to Rs 39 lakh crore in FY26.
Tata Sons is an unlisted company, and therefore, its total number of shares is very small. Hence one share can be worth lakhs or even crores of rupees. Therefore, the dividend per share is so big. This also means only those who have shares of Tata Sons will receive a dividend of Rs 1.10 lakh per share.
At the Tata group level, revenue in FY26 grew 7.8% to Rs 16.24 lakh crore and net profit rocketed 52% to Rs 1.71 lakh crore. Chairman N Chandrasekaran described the group’s investments in semiconductors, batteries, aviation, telecom equipment, defense manufacturing and AI as nation-building initiatives. “We are preparing for the India of 2047, and the next industrial revolution is being designed and built right now. Its key pillars are silicon, connectivity, energy, and security,” he mentioned.
Tata Digital’s loss stood at Rs 4,974 crore which rose from Rs 4,610 crore a year ago. The loss for battery venture Egretas stood at Rs 1,101 crore and Tata Electronics incurred a loss of Rs 1,611 crore. But Air India towered above all with its loss.
Air India faced an extremely difficult year in FY26, due to the closure of airspace, increase in fuel prices due to conflict in West Asia, foreign exchange fluctuations and the Ahmedabad crash.
According to Tata Sons’ annual report, the chairman’s salary rose 1.8% to Rs 158.66 crore in FY26. There was no change in commissions and sitting fees, which form about 89% of the salary. Commissions amounted to Rs 140.69 crore.
The chairman highlighted the group’s achievements in defence manufacturing, which includes the first flight of the ‘Made-in-India’ C-295 transport aircraft and the launch of India’s first private-sector helicopter final assembly line for the Airbus H125. Tata Advanced Systems’ also recorded the first overseas defence manufacturing facility in Morocco.
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Avijit Ghosal has been writing on topics of business, industry and investment for the past three decades. He also writes on the broad economy, infrastructure and issues in banking. He has worked for economic dailies such as the Business Standard, The Economic Times, business magazines such as Business Today, English broadsheet the Hindustan Times and Bengali daily Anandabazar Patrika before joining TV9 Network.