Controversies
The company has attracted controversy for reports of political corruption, cronyism, theft, mass killings, and exploitation of its customers, Indian citizens, and natural resources.
Munnar, Kerala
The Kerala Government filed an affidavit in the high court alleging that Tata Tea had "grabbed" 3,000 acres (12 km2) of forest land at Munnar. The Tatas provided that they possessed 58,741.82 acres (237.7197 km2) of land, which they are allowed to retain under the Kannan Devan Hill (Resumption of Lands) Act, 1971, and there was a shortage of 278.23 hectares (2.7823 km2) in that. The Chief Minister of Kerala V.S. Achuthanandan, who vowed to evict all on government land in Munnar, formed a special squad for the Munnar land takeover mission and started acquiring back properties. However, the mission was aborted due to both influential landholders and opposition from Achuthanandan's own party.
Kalinganagar, Odisha
On 2 January 2006, Kalinganagar, Tribal Orissa villagers protested against the construction of a new steel plant for Tata Steel on land historically owned by them. Some of the villagers had been evicted without adequate relocation. Police retribution was brutal: 37 protesters were injured and 13 killed, including 3 women and a 13-year-old boy. One policeman was hacked to death by a mob after police had opened fire on protestors with tear gas and rubber bullets. Family members of the deceased villagers later claimed that the bodies had been mutilated during post-mortem examinations.
Supplies to Burma's military regime
In December 2006, Myanmar's chief of general staff, General Thura Shwe Mann, visited the Tata Motors plant in Pune. In 2009, Tata Motors announced that it would manufacture trucks in Myanmar. Tata Motors reported that these contracts to supply hardware and automobiles to Burma's military were subsequently criticised by human rights activists.
Singur land acquisition
The Singur controversy in West Bengal was a series of protests by locals and political parties over the forced acquisition, eviction, and inadequate compensation to those farmers displaced for the Tata Nano plant, during which Mamata Banerjee's party was widely criticised as acting for political gain. Despite the support of the Communist Party of India state government, Tata eventually pulled the project out of West Bengal, citing safety concerns. Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, made land available for the Nano project.
On 31 August 2016, in a historic judgement, the Supreme Court of India set aside the land acquisition by the West Bengal Government in 2006 that had facilitated Tata Motors' Nano plant, stating that the West Bengal government had not taken possession of the land legally, and were required to repossess and return it to local farmers within 12 weeks without compensation.
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Dhamra Port, Odisha
The Port of Dhamara has received significant coverage, sparking controversy in India, and in Tata's emerging global markets. The Dhamra port, an equal joint venture between Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro, has been criticised for its proximity to the Gahirmatha Sanctuary and Bhitarkanika National Park by Indian and international organisations, including Greenpeace; Gahirmatha Beach is one of the world's largest mass nesting sites for the olive ridley turtle, and India's second largest mangrove forest, Bhitarkanika, is a designated Ramsar site, and critics claimed that the port could disrupt mass nesting at Gahirmtha beaches as well as the ecology of the Bitharkanika mangrove forest. Tata Steel employed mitigation measures set by the project's official advisor, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the company pledged to "adopt all its recommendations without exception" when conservation organisations asserted that a thorough environmental impact analysis had not been done for the project, which had undergone changes in size and specifications since it was first proposed.
Proposed soda extraction plant in Tanzania
In 2007, Tata Group joined forces with a Tanzanian company to build a soda ash extraction plant in Tanzania. Environmental activists oppose the plant because it would be near Lake Natron, and it has a very high chance of affecting the lake's ecosystem and its neighbouring dwellers, jeopardising endangered lesser flamingo birds. Lake Natron is where two-thirds of lesser flamingos reproduce. Producing soda ash involves drawing out salt water from the lake, and then disposing the water back to the lake. This process could interrupt the chemical makeup of the lake. 22 African nations signed a petition to stop its construction.
Epic Systems trade-secret case judgement
In April 2016, a U.S. Federal grand jury awarded Epic Systems a $940 million judgement ($240 million in compensatory damages and $700 million in punitive damages) against Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata America International Corp. Filed 31 October 2014; the suit charged that a TCS employee had made "6,477 unauthorized downloads" while working at a hospital which "could be used to enhance Tata's competing product, Med Mantra." In 2017, U.S. District Court Judge William Conley reduced the award to $420 million ($140 million in compensatory damages and $280 million in punitive damages) due to Wisconsin state law; the company stated that they would appeal the judgement, as "not supported by evidence presented during the trial and a strong appeal can be made to superior court to fully set aside the jury verdict.” In 2020 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the compensatory damages but recommended reducing the punitive damages to $140 million. Epic further appealed this to the Supreme Court but certiorari was denied.
2018 NCLT verdict
In July 2018, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which "adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies," issued a verdict in the company's favour on charges of mismanagement leveled in 2016 by ousted chairman, Cyrus Mistry.
Radia tapes
In 2010, Tata Group was involved in the Radia tapes controversy, a political and corporate scandal involving lobbyist Niira Radia, whose public relations firm Vaishnavi Corporate Communications counted Tata among its most prominent clients alongside Reliance Industries. The Income Tax Department recorded approximately 5,851 telephone conversations involving Radia over a period of 300 days in 2008–09, as part of investigations into alleged money laundering and tax evasion. The tapes were subsequently leaked to the press and published by Outlook and Open magazines, revealing Radia's role as an intermediary between major corporate houses, politicians, and senior journalists.
Ratan Tata, then chairman of the group, personally appeared in some of the recorded conversations with Radia. In 2011, Ratan Tata filed a petition before the Supreme Court of India seeking to prevent certain conversations from being made public on grounds of privacy. A counter-petition was simultaneously filed by the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation seeking full public disclosure of the transcripts. The Supreme Court subsequently placed privacy restrictions on state investigative agencies in relation to the tapes.
Tata Teleservices, a Tata Group subsidiary, was drawn into the broader 2G spectrum case, with the group contesting allegations of irregular spectrum allocation. Radia subsequently closed Vaishnavi Corporate Communications in 2011 following the controversy.
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Leak
In June 2026, Tata Electronics, an affiliate wholly owned by Tata Group, disclosed a cyberattack in which more than 630 GB of data was reportedly stolen, including sensitive documents related to Apple’s iPhone supply chain. Reuters reported that the leaked material included details on components and suppliers for the iPhone 18 Pro, while Apple said it was investigating the incident and working with Tata on long-term security measures. The leaked Tata Electronics data reportedly included sensitive Apple supply-chain documents related to the iPhone 18 Pro, including information about components and suppliers. According to Reuters, the files described hundreds of parts, including chips on the main circuit board and elements used in the phone’s battery and cameras.
