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New Delhi: Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata has made an offer of Rs 18,000 crore to acquire debt-ridden Air India, a senior government official said on Friday.
An SPV of Tata Sons – the holding company of the group – has emerged as the successful bidder, said Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) – the government department responsible for privatization.
Tata Sons beat SpiceJet promoter to take over Air India.
The DIPAM secretary said Tata’s bid of Rs 18,000 crore includes taking a loan of Rs 15,300 crore and paying the rest in cash.
Both the bidders quoted above the reserve price, said they plan to close the transaction by December.
He said a group of ministers including Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia have approved the winning bid for Air India on October 4.
This marks the return of Air India to Tata.
Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai (JRD) Tata founded the airline in 1932. Then it was called Tata Airlines. 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.
International Service was one of the first public-private partnerships in India, with the government holding 49 percent, the Tatas 25 percent and the public holding the remainder.
In 1953, Air India was nationalised.
The government is selling its 100 per cent stake in the state-owned national airline, which includes Air India’s 100 per cent stake in AI Express Ltd and a 50 per cent stake in Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd.
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