Air India Handover To Tata Group Likely To Happen After Republic Day

Three months after Tata Sons won the bid to buy national carrier Air India, the formal handover will happen this week, reports have claimed.

Officials said on Monday that the remaining formalities regarding this deal are expected to be completed in the next few days and the airline will be handed over to the Tata group by the end of this week.

AFP

After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year 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 percent stake in the airline. On October 25, the Centre signed the share purchase agreement (SPA) for this deal.

As a part of the deal, the Tata group will also be handed over Air India Express and a 50 percent stake in ground handling arm Air India SATS.

AP

While this will be the first privatisation since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tatas' stable ¡ª it holds a majority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd.

Air India, was originally founded by JRD Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932.

It was renamed Air India in 1946 and the Tata Group lost control of the airline after it was nationalised by the government in 1953.

Twitter

After Tata Sons emerged as the winning bidder, Chairman Emeritus, Ratan Tata had in a tweet said "Welcome Back, Air India.

Calling the acquisition "great news", Ratan Tata expressed hope that the sale will provide a very strong market opportunity to the Tata Group's presence in the aviation industry.

"On an emotional note, Air India, under the leadership of Mr JRD Tata had, at one time, gained the reputation of being one of the most prestigious airlines in the world.

"Tatas will have the opportunity of regaining the image and reputation it enjoyed in earlier years," he said.

As part of the deal, Tatas will get Air India's 117 wide-body and narrow body aircrafts and Air India Express's 24.

AFP

A significant number of these aircrafts are owned by Air India. It will also get to operate these aircraft on over 4,000 domestic and 1,800 international routes.

Besides, the conglomerate will get a total talent pool of Air India and Air India Express which stands at 13,500 including both permanent and contractual employees.

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