NEW DELHI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - India's Tata Sons has postponed a decision on reappointing N Chandrasekaran as chairman after the head of its powerful charity arm opposed the move during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The delay underscores fresh tension in the Tata group's leadership transition and has revived worries of a repeat of the 2016 public clash between Tata Trusts and Tata Sons that bruised the reputation of India's most storied conglomerate.

Tata Trusts owns about 66% of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Indian salt-to-software group that houses 30 companies including Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Air India.

After family patriarch Ratan Tata died in 2024, his half-brother Noel Tata became chairman of Tata Trusts, putting him at the top of the group's ownership structure even as operational control stayed with Tata Sons.

Last year, Tata Sons and Tata Trusts clashed over board representation, strategy and how to handle the planned exit of minority shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji, a dispute that led to the ouster of a Tata Sons director.

At Tuesday's board meeting, four of six directors supported Chandrasekaran's reappointment, while Noel Tata opposed it and sought several conditions, including a commitment that Tata Sons would never be listed, the source said.

Chandrasekaran, whose term ends in February 2027, said he could not give such an assurance and would accept a deferment on his appointment if Tata Trusts preferred, the source added.

Tata Sons did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Chandrasekaran, 62, joined the Tata group in 1987 and rose to become TCS CEO in 2009 before taking over as Tata Sons chair in 2017.

Over the past year, he has faced challenges including intense regulatory scrutiny on Air India after a fatal crash, pricing pressure at crown-jewel TCS, and a cyberattack at Jaguar Land Rover that disrupted production and hit Britain's economic output.

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru. Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Dhanya Skariachan and Mark Potter)

By Aditya Kalra