By Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The half-brother of Ratan

Tata was appointed on Friday as the head of the powerful and

influential philanthropic arm of India's Tata group, giving him

indirect control of the $165 billion conglomerate.

Tata Trusts said Noel Tata, 67, will be its new chairman

after the death this week of Ratan Tata, one of India's

best-known corporate titans.

The decsion followed "many old-timers" in the group wanting

him to lead the venture, said one Tata executive, who spoke on

condition of anonymity.

The parent company, Tata Sons, oversees 30 firms across

consumer goods, hotels, automobiles and airlines and has become

a global juggernaut over the years, with brands such as Jaguar

Land Rover and Tetley Tea in its stable.

It owns Tata Consultancy Services, Taj Hotels and Air India

and counts Starbucks ( SBUX ) and Airbus as partners in India.

Tata Trusts has a 66% ownership of Tata Sons, giving it

power over big investment, philanthropic and strategic decisions

by the conglomerate, company executives say.

Noel Tata, who is half-French, was already among the many

trustees of the philanthropic arm, and also chairman of Tata's

retail fashion brand Trent as well as vice chairman of Tata

Steel.

The trust earns dividends from Tata Sons but has no direct

say over its operations. However, it appoints a third of the

directors to Tata Sons who have veto power over board decisions.

The chairman of Tata Trusts "is powerful enough to decide

board and key personnel" appointments at Tata Sons, a second

senior company executive said.

While Tata Sons is not compelled to seek advice or guidance

from the philanthropic arm, it's an "unsaid understanding" that

there is consultation between leadership on both sides, the

first executive added.

NOEL'S JOURNEY

The Tata group was set up in 1868 by Ratan's great

grandfather, Jamsetji Tata.

A few years later, Jamsetji started charity work that has

since expanded to sectors such as healthcare and sports, through

many of the trusts in the philanthropic arm.

Ratan Tata started working at the family firm in 1962 and

became the chairman of Tata Sons in 1991, taking the group to

new heights while gaining a reputation as an extremely shy,

soft-spoken executive with sharp business acumen.

Noel Tata is a graduate of Sussex University who has been

associated with the group for more than 40 years. He serves on

the board of various Tata companies.

As a previous managing director of Tata International, Noel

grew the turnover of the trading arm to more than $3 billion

from $500 million, a Tata Group website said.

The Tatas belong to the tiny Parsi community, which has

included some of India's biggest business names, top nuclear

scientists, world-class musicians and senior military officers.

Parsis follow the Zoroastrian faith, an ancient pre-Islamic

religion of Iran. Some of its tenets, such as charity and doing

good to others, have long been woven into the Tata heritage and

business ethos.

Much of the dividend paid out by Tata Sons gets funneled

into charitable trusts involved in philanthropic work.

Although the trusts' influence over the group is not often

on display, the starkest such example was in 2016, when Ratan

Tata had a falling out with Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry

that led to the latter's ouster.

Mistry, another Parsi billionaire whose family owns a stake

of about 18% in Tata Sons, died in a car accident in 2022.

One of his former advisers told Reuters this week that the

Tata Trusts "without a doubt" exert unparalleled power over Tata

Sons' functions, adding that they "work behind a veil."

Noel is an Irish citizen married to Mistry's sister.