Tatas top bidder for Air India; government panel to take call

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, October 1

Tata Sons is learnt to have emerged as the top bidder for the Air India takeover, but the bid for the debt-ridden national carrier is yet to be approved by a ministerial panel headed by Home Minister Amit Shah and comprising Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Amid reports that Tata Sons had won the bid, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, “Reports indicating approval of financial bids in the AI disinvestment case are incorrect. The media will be informed of the government’s decision as and when it is taken.”

Sources, however, confirmed that the bids put in by Tata Sons and SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh were opened a few days ago and vetted last Wednesday by the core group of secretaries on disinvestment, a body headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

They also confirmed that the bids were evaluated against the reserve price and Tata Sons emerged as the highest bidder. The highest bid would now be placed before the ministerial committee.

Incidentally, if Tata Sons’ bid is accepted, one of India’s oldest industrial conglomerates will take over the national carrier that it once founded. Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (JRD) Tata had founded the airline in 1932, called Tata Airlines then.

In 1946, the aviation division of Tata Sons was listed as Air India and in 1948, Air India International was launched with flights to Europe. The international service was among the first public-private partnerships in India, with the government holding 49 percent, Tatas 25 per cent and the public owning the rest. But in 1953, Air India was nationalised. The government is seeking to sell its 100 per cent stake in the company.