After a gap of 69 years, Air India is set to become a Tata-owned carrier again — as the government has decided to hand over the airline on January 27.
“Divestment of Air India will take place on January 27 when it would be handed over to the Tata Group by the Centre,” the airlines’ director-finance, Vinod Hejmadi, said in a message to the employees.
The balance sheet of the national carrier as on January 20 have been handed over to the Tatas on Monday for review “and any changes can be effected on Wednesday”, Hejmadi told the employees.
“The next three days will be hectic for our department and I request all of you to give your best in these last three-four days before we get divested. We may have to work late in the night to complete the task given to us,” he wrote. Officials said the other formalities were expected to be completed in the next few days.
Tata Group founded the airline known as Tata Airlines in 1932 before it was nationalised in 1953.
The government on October 8 had sold Air India to Talace Private Limited — a subsidiary of the Tata group’s holding company — for Rs 18,000 crore.
Following that, on October 11, a letter of intent (LoI) was issued to the Tata group confirming the government’s willingness to sell its 100 per cent stake in the airline. On October 25, the Centre signed the share purchase agreement for this deal.
The deal was expected to be completed by December, but got delayed in January.
As part of the deal, the Tata group will also be handed over Air India Express and a 50 per cent stake in ground handling arm Air India SATS.
The Tatas on October 8 topped a Rs 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh. The bid was higher than the reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore. This will be the first privatisation of a PSU since 2003-04.
Third brand
Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tata stable — it holds a majority stake in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd.
The group plans to continue with Vistara as a separate entity, as SIA is not on board for the AI deal. Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Group and SIA.
