On Thursday, ‘Maharaja’ Air India is set to be handed over to the Tata Group. The handover will mark the end of a two-decade process to privatize the national airline.
The national government is poised to take over Air India to the Tata Group on Thursday, after a 69-year absence. In October of last year, the company was awarded the contract.
In 2001, the first such effort was undertaken. At that time, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of India. However, the bid was unsuccessful.
Ever since the Centre’s governments have tried unsuccessfully to sell their part in the national carrier, but in October 2021, they finally succeeded.
The government announced on October 8, 2021, that Tata Sons’ Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary, had won the bid to acquire Air India. For a 100 percent shareholding, the Group offered Rs 18,000 crore. The airline’s chairman and managing director is IAS officer Vikram Dev Dutt, who was appointed by the government.
The Tata Group will take over state-owned Air India, the ‘Maharaja’, kicking off the Modi government’s privatization agenda and putting an end to the airline’s decades-long search for a buyer. After 69 years, the national carrier will return to the Tata fold after the first big asset transaction since 2004.
