The corporate community was curious about Ratan Tata and Mohini Mohan Dutta, his unidentified successor. Mr. Dutta, an unidentified figure in the Tata business, received about Rs 500 crore from the late former chairman of the Tata Group, who passed away on October 9, 2024.

While the will recognizes Mr. Dutta as one of the beneficiaries of the fortune of Mr. Tata, legal formalities need to be completed before it is transferred to the assets. The process involving probate and certification by the High Court is likely to take at least six months.

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Mohini Mohan Dutta & Tata Story

Jamshedpur-based entrepreneur Mohini Mohan Dutta played a key role in the expansion of Tata Group. He was a co-owner of Stallion, which later merged with Tata Services. Before the merger, Mr. Dutta had an 80% stake in Stallion, while Tata Industries owned the remaining 20%.

At Ratan Tata’s funeral, Mr. Dutta recalled details of their first meeting, which took place in Jamshedpur when he was just 24 years old. Though he never made much of a public presence, Tata insiders confirm that Mr. Dutta had a decades-long association with the family.

“He helped me out and built me up,” Mr. Dutta had said in earlier interviews, speaking about his relationship with Mr. Tata.

Reports says that Mr. Mohini had been associated to Mr. Tata for around more than 6 decades. He was also called to Ratan Tata’s big birth anniversary celebration at NCPA in Mumbai—a personal event by Tata family.

Mr. Dutta’s daughter also had close relations with Tata Group. She was working at Taj Hotels till 2015 and then joined Tata Trusts for which she has remained an employee till 2024, according to a report by Fortune.

Tata’s Will

Ratan Tata’s vast fortune was divided in his will, which was made public two weeks following the visionary’s passing. His brother, half-sisters, long-time employees, and Shantanu Naidu, his executive assistant, are among the beneficiaries.

An interesting inclusion to the will was unlimited care for Mr. Tata’s cute dog called Tito. Meanwhile, the stakes in Tata Sons were shifted to the Ratan Tata Endowment Trust.

Some of Mr. Tata’s possessions included a beach bungalow in Alibaug, a two-story house in Juhu, fixed deposits exceeding Rs 350 crore, and his stake in Tata Sons.

What Next for Dutta?

As legal procedures are followed, the business fraternity waits to see how Mohini Mohan Dutta would respond to this inheritance. Being an old friend of Ratan Tata and Tata Group, he could be at the forefront of a much more prominent role in India’s biggest conglomerate’s legacy than everyone has imagined so far.