MUMBAI: The board of the Small Animal Hospital, India’s largest tertiary care veterinary facility and a cherished project of the late Ratan Tata, has been reconstituted following the exit of his close confidant Mehli Mistry, as the internal conflict engulfing Tata Trusts ripples into affiliated institutions.Sanjay Ubale, a former MD of Tata Realty & Infrastructure, and Sheila Mukundan, a doctor and wife of Tata Chemicals MD R Mukundan, have joined the board. People familiar with the appointments said the hospital had sought individuals with an affinity for animals.The facility, which cost Rs 165 crore to build and is losing about Rs 1.5 crore a month while operating at a fraction of its capacity, depends on sustained financial backing from its founding promoters — Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. It is unclear whether the Maharashtra charity commissioner’s order freezing SRTT’s ability to take material decisions has complicated the trust’s capacity to provide ongoing support. The board of Tata Trusts, excluding SRTT, is meeting on Monday to discuss budgets, grant disbursals and other matters.Mistry resigned from the hospital’s board after his reappointment to both trusts was blocked. In his resignation letter, he said he would “prefer not to request funding from a trust with which he is no longer associated.” His departure triggered further exits. Dr Anirudh Kohli, CEO of Breach Candy Hospital, also stepped down. Shantanu Naidu, Ratan Tata’s former personal assistant, who had been involved with the hospital since its inception, resigned shortly after — with people saying he was nudged towards the exit. Naidu remains general manager at Tata Motors.The remaining trustees are Leah Tata, daughter of Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, who was brought onto the board by Mistry; Mehernosh Kapadia, a former director of Indian Hotels Company; R R Shastri, a former legal executive of Tata Sons; and Siddharth Sharma, CEO of Trusts.The Small Animal Hospital was born out of Ratan Tata’s inability to find advanced veterinary care for his own injured dog.
