Indian gov't proposes tax breaks for lessors

Delhi also looking to sell off Alliance Air - report

Just under a week after it chose Tata Group to acquire Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l) and its Air India Express (IX, Mumbai Int'l) subsidiary, the Indian government is now planning to sell off its domestic carrier, Alliance Air (India) (9I, Mumbai Int'l), informed sources have told BusinessToday.

According to the report, Air India's board will meet on Thursday, October 14, to consider the matter. The meeting will be chaired by Air India Board chairman Rajiv Bansal, who is also Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

"Some terms of the proposal require further discussion. The plan is to divest the entire 100% shareholding. It is expected that the formal Board nod will happen at the meeting," the sources said.

Founded in 1996, Alliance Air operates eighteen ATR72-600s on scheduled flights that connect 37 Tier II and III cities across India to major bases at each of Bangalore Int'l, Chennai, Delhi Int'l, Hyderabad Int'l, Jaipur, Kolkata Int'l, Mumbai Int'l, and Vishakhapatnam...

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Delhi chooses Tata Group for Air India takeover

Over three years after it first signalled its intention to divest itself of the loss-making carrier, Narendra Modi's government has chosen Indian conglomerate Tata Group to outright acquire Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l), its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express (IX, Mumbai Int'l), and a 50% stake in airport services and groundhandling firm Air India SATS.

In its announcement issued on Friday, October 8, 2021, the Indian Ministry of Finance said Talace Pvt. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, had proven the better offer with its enterprise value of INR180 billion rupees (USD2.396 billion) versus INR150 billion (USD1.997 billion) as put forward by the other contender, a consortium led by SpiceJet's Ajay Singh.

In terms of the INR180 billion, Tata Group will pay the government INR27 billion (USD359.5 million) in cash for the assets themselves while the remaining INR153 billion (USD2.037 billion) will cover part of the airline's substantial debt pile. The transaction does not, however, include non-core assets such as land and buildings, valued at INR147.18 billion (USD1.96 billion), which will...

Tata to unite Air India, AirAsia India, Vistara - report

Budget airline AirAsia India (I5, Bangalore Int'l) would be united with Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l) as a single entity if its owner Tata Sons is chosen to privatise the heavily indebted flag carrier, “top executives aware of the plan” have told the Economic Times newspaper. Tata Sons’ other majority-owned airline, the full-service carrier Vistara (UK, Delhi Int'l), will also be part of the combined entity if 49% shareholder Singapore Airlines agrees.

Grouping all of its airlines under a single umbrella would encourage synergies and eliminate duplication, the unnamed sources said, adding that this would help it “scale up the game and be the number one player in the space.”

The Indian conglomerate owns 83.67% of AirAsia India, having raised its stake from 51% by acquiring a chunk of equity from AirAsia Group at the end of last year. It still has a call option on the remaining 16.33%, and the Malaysian group has signalled that it will exit the Indian business by March 2022.

Tata has, according...