Tatas bid for Air India, 67 years after exit

Tata Group is believed to have submitted an expression of interest for the national carrier Air India over the weekend. It is learned that the vehicle used to file the interest in AI is AirAsia India, where Tata Sons has a significant majority stake.

Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who last year said that AI will have to shut down if not privatised. Though Tata Sons runs a premier full-service carrier, Vistara, in partnership with Singapore Airlines, it decided to route its AI interest through budget carrier AirAsia India. AI’s debt-cum-liabilities’ combined burden is almost Rs 90,000 crore.