Air India likely to be handed over to Tatas by weekend
While this will be the first privatisation since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tata’s stable
New Delhi: Air India is likely to be handed over to the Tata Group by the end of this week, senior government officials said on Monday.
After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited — a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company — for Rs 18,000 crore.
Following that, on October 11, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was issued to the Tata Group confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 percent stake in the airline. On October 25, the Centre signed the share purchase agreement (SPA) for this deal.
According to media reports, an internal message sent to the employees informed them that the closing balance sheet was to be submitted by the end of Monday. The balance sheet was then to be forwarded to the Tata Sons for review. The airline is finally expected to be handed over to the new owner by Thursday.
"The closing balance sheet as of 20th January has to be provided today (Monday) 24th January so that it can be reviewed by Tatas and any changes can be effected on Wednesday," the message said.
It added the next three days will be hectic and requested the airline employees to give their best before the airline gets di-vested. "We may have to work late in the night to complete the task given to us," the message said while seeking the coopera-tion of the employees.
Officials said on Monday that the remaining formalities regarding this deal are expected to be completed in the next few days.
As a part of the deal, the Tata Group will also be handed over Air India Express and a 50 percent stake in ground handling arm Air India SATS.
Tatas had on October 8 beat the Rs 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet
promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of
Rs 12,906 crore set by the government for the sale of its 100 percent stake in the loss-making carrier.
While this will be the first privatisation since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tatas' stable it holds a ma-jority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd.
