The Union government has notified in a statement that it has completed the overall process of handing over management and ownership control of the national flag carrier Air India to Tata Sons, which brings the group back to the helm of the cash-strapped airline.
“The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100% shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control,” Secretary for the Department for Disinvestment and Public Asset Management, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, commented in a Twitter post.
In October last year, Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, came out as the sole winning bidder of the loss-making airline after it proposed a bid at an enterprise value of $2.4 billion through a special purpose company.
“We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline,” Chairman of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd, N. Chandrasekaran, said in a separate company statement.
Tata currently does operate a premium services airline in collaboration with Singapore Airlines along with low-cost carrier AirAsia India, via a joint venture pact with Malaysian flag carrier AirAsia Group.
The acquisition of Air India comes at such a time when the aviation industry is facing stiff headwinds in terms of loss and administrational expenses hurt by Covid-19 pandemic. Air travel had witnessed a sharp fall in 2020, thereby stimulating the government to hold back mobility and curb flying.
Edited by: Saptarshi