October 26, 2025

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THE LISTING QUESTION

A little after 6 p.m. on October 10, as Mumbai wound down for the weekend, a rare communiqué arrived in newsroom inboxes. Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, the reticent head of one of India's oldest business houses, had broken his silence. The two-page statement, signed personally by Mistry, was calm in tone but seismic in implication. It called once again for "transparency and good governance through the public listing of Tata Sons"--the holding company at the centre of India's largest conglomerate. For the 160-year-old Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group, the second-largest shareholder in Tata Sons with an 18.4% stake, the demand was not new. But the timing was telling. Earlier that same day, the board of Tata Trusts, which owns about two-thirds of Tata Sons, had met at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. The meeting was held just two days after the first anniversary of Ratan Tata's death and days after Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New DelhiThe meetings did little to clear the air amid murmurs of disquiet within the Trusts. "It was business as usual," says one insider, adding "nothing hinted at the brewing storm." But as Mistry's statement showed, the storm had already arrived--in the form of a renewed pub- lic demand to list Tata Sons, and by extension, shine a light on the governance of India's most influential corporate structureTHE HEART OF THE MATTER At the core of this renewed confrontation lies a simple, strategic question: should Tata Sons--the unlisted holding company that controls India's largest industrial empire--remain private, or is it time to subject it to financial sector regulations? In his statement, Mistry wrote that the public listing of Tata Sons was not merely a financial act, but "a moral and social imperative" that would unlock value "for over 1.2 crore shareholders of listed Tata companies, who are indirect shareholders of Tata Sons." He argued that the listing would "pave the way for a robust and equitable dividend policy, ensuring sustained inflows to Tata Trusts," and that the move was "completely in consonance with the ideals of Jamsetji Tata." The SP Group's 18.4% stake, acquired over generations since 1936, represents the largest non-trust shareholding in Tata Sons. At current valuations, it is worth about `3 lakh crore, according to Infomerics Ratings. For the debt-laden SP Group, a listing could offer both transparency and liquidityAnd yet, behind this call for transparency lies a deeper strain--a financial and strategic compulsion born of debt and diminished cash flowDEBT,DEADLINES AND DIFFICULT DECISIONS Why did the SP Group choose this moment to restate its case? The answer, at least in part, lies in its balance sheet numbersOver the last five years, the group has undertaken one of the most complex deleveraging exercises in Indian corporate history. ICRA, in its February 2025 note, reaffirmed ratings with a "negative outlook," citing "continued stress on the liquidity position." The report

BUSINESS OF CANCER

THE DAILY BATHINDA-TO-BIKANER TRAIN, LONG DUBBED THE CANCER TRAIN, IS BEGINNING TO SHED THAT GRIM IDENTITY. DATA FROM THE ACHARYA TULSI REGIONAL CANCER TREATMENT & RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN BIKANER, ONE OF THE FEW INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA OFFERING FREE TREATMENT, SHOW A SHARP DECLINE IN PATIENTS FROM PUNJAB. Between 2014 and 2024, about 6% of its patients came from the state. Last year, it was 2%. This shows the spread of cancer care services in Punjab, with new hospitals, district day-care centres, and diagnostic facilities bringing treatment closer to patients' doorstep. The gap between demand and supply is narrowing, not just in Punjab, but across IndiaYet, the larger crisis remains daunting. In 2024, India recorded over 1.6 million new cancer cases and 870,000 deaths, according to the National Cancer Registry Programme and the Indian Council of Medical Research. The lifetime risk is now 11%, which means one in nine Indians is likely to develop cancer. And annual incidence is rising at 6.8%, higher than in China, Brazil, or Indonesia. This mix--soaring incidence, high treatment costs, and limited public infrastructure-- has made cancer care one of India's most lucrative healthcare segmentsONCOLOGY ON OVERDRIVE India's cancer burden is growing faster than the healthcare system. Estimates suggest the country needs 10,000­15,000 additional day-care beds and at least 25,000 surgical beds. Private hospitals are rushing to fill this gapCancer care contributed 20% to Apollo's revenue in Q1FY26. For Max Healthcare, the number was 25%. Fortis Healthcare's oncology revenue rose 28% and is now 16% of the total. HCG, one of India's largest cancer chains, posted a 19% compound annual growth rate between FY20 and FY24. Apollo Hospitals operates 26 cancer centres and has invested `1,300 crore in its Proton Cancer Centre in Chennai--the only one of its kind in India. In proton therapy, a beam of protons, rather than traditional Xrays, deliver high-energy radiation directly to the tumourThat is not all. Massive expansion plans are under way. Max Healthcare is investing `5,000 crore to double capacity. Apollo aims to add more than 1,700 beds by FY27. Asia Healthcare Holdings has invested `1,650 crore, while Tata Trusts' Assam Cancer Care Foundation is setting up 17 hospitals for `2,200 crore; seven are already operational.