Tata Sons sets up Rs 500 crore trust for victims’ families

MUMBAI: Tata Sons has formed a Rs 500 crore public charitable trust to aid families impacted by the Air India 171 crash in Ahmedabad. It will contribute Rs 250 crore to the AI-171 Memorial and Welfare Trust, while its primary shareholder, Tata Trusts, will match this with Rs 250 crore. This is one of the largest relief efforts by the House of Tatas. In 2020, the Tatas contributed Rs 1,500 crore for Covid-19 relief, with Tata Trusts providing Rs 500 crore. In 2008, Indian Hotels (Taj chain) had established a trust to support affected victims and families of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The AI-171 Trust, registered in Mumbai, will be administered by five trustees including Tata Chemicals chairman S Padmanabhan and Tata Sons’ general counsel Sidharth Sharma. Three additional trustees remain to be appointed. However, none of the Tata Trusts trustees will be part of the AI-171 Trust board. The airplane crash on June 12 claimed over 250 lives. Tata Sons promptly announced Rs 1 crore compensation for each deceased victim’s family. This amount will be disbursed through the AI-171 Trust. The Trust will also cover medical treatment for the injured and reconstruction costs for the BJ Medical College hostel.