Tata Group takes over Air India; looks to restore Maharaja’s past glory

New Delhi, Jan 27 : Nearly seven decades after it lost control, Tatas on Thursday regained ownership of Air India and promised to turn the loss-making carrier into a world-class airline.

N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, which in October last year beat a consortium led by rival SpiceJet promoter to win the bid for the national carrier, first called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi before heading to the Air India office where the takeover formalities were completed.

A new board of directors met shortly thereafter, formalising the management takeover.

Tata Group Founder JRD Tata had originally launched the airline in 1932 as the nation’s first carrier, flying mail between Karachi in then-undivided, British-ruled India and Bombay. It was nationalised in 1953.

The finance ministry in a statement said the Air India strategic disinvestment transaction has been completed on Thursday with the government receiving a consideration of Rs 2,700 crore from Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

The government has retained debt of Rs 15,300 crore in Air India and Air India Express Ltd (AIXL) while 100 per cent shares of Air India, AIXL and the national carrier’s 50 per cent shareholding in AISATS have been transferred to Talace.

In a tweet, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India has concluded successfully with transfer of 100 per cent shares of Air India to Talace along with management control.

“A new board, led by the strategic partner, takes charge of Air India,” Pandey said after completion of the handover process at the airline headquarters here.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Air India will bloom under the wings of the new owners and the airline will pave the way for a thriving and robust civil aviation sector in India.

In October last year, Tatas won the bid for Air India through a competitive bidding for Rs 18,000 crore, including the cash component of Rs 2,700 crore.

“We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline,” Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

“I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India to our Group, and look forward to working together,” he said.

In a statement, the group said Chandrasekaran was joined by Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata in acknowledging and thanking “the Government of India and its various departments for the successful completion of this important transaction”.

Announcing that it has taken over the management and control of the airline, starting Thursday, the group acknowledged Modi’s “commitment to reforms and faith in India’s entrepreneurship spirit, which made this historic transition possible”.

“Our Prime Minister has in action demonstrated what his commitment to ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ means. We philosophically agree with the Prime Minister’s vision for the aviation sector, of making it affordable and ensuring it contributes to boosting ‘Ease of Living’ for citizens,” the statement said.

Separately, a consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) has agreed to provide loans to Tata Group for the smooth operations of loss-making Air India.

When the Tata Group won the bid to acquire Air India in October last year, Ratan Tata had tweeted an old photograph of the company’s former chairman JRD Tata getting down from an Air India aircraft, stating, “Welcome Back, Air India”.

“The Tata Group winning the bid for Air India is great news. While admittedly it will take considerable effort to rebuild Air India, it will hopefully provide a very strong market opportunity to the Tata Group’s presence in the aviation industry,” he had said.

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