Trimming at Tata

The Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group has said that the "Tata Group loses more if business ties (are) snapped.” The development is being seen as a continuation of the fallout of the bitter fight between Tata Sons’ former chairman Cyrus Mistry and his predecessor Ratan Tata that resulted in Mistry’s ouster from the conglomerate. Earlier in August, Tata Group chairman N. Chandrasekaran had issued instructions to operating companies within that Group to terminate all business relationships with the SP Group.

From left: Ratan Tata, Cyrus Mistry, N. Chandrasekaran: deals at a standstill

Livemint said on August 18, 2017 that "almost 50 companies of the SP Group will be affected by the Tata Sons board’s decision, taken on August 9.” All Tata Group companies are said to be acting on the Tata Sons directive, which came to them on August 14, according to The Economic Times of August 17.
"Tata Sons instructing independently listed companies to take this step has locked out a significant consumer of its products — an act that is detrimental, not to the SP Group but to the interests of the Tata Group companies,” said a spokesperson of SP Group to Livemint.
During Mistry’s tenure as Tata Sons chairman, engineering and construction contracts with SP Group from all Tata companies had fallen to zero and if there were any residual orders pending, it would be "extremely insignificant in value,” said newspaper reports quoting the SP Group. Mistry, when chairman of the Tata Group, had issued a directive in November 2013 to all Tata companies to ensure that no new engineering and construction contracts were to be awarded to the SP Group during his tenure. Orders from the Tata Group fell from Rs 1,125 crores (USD 175 mn) in 2012-13 to zero in 2015-16, according to reports.
The SP Group remains the single largest shareholder in Tata Sons with 18.4% stake. Around 66% is held by the Tata Trusts of which Tata is the chairman.