Tata Sons, which founded Air India (AI, Delhi International) 87 years ago before it was nationalised in 1948, has told the Times Of India that it is looking at bidding for the airline in the current privatisation process.
The country's Finance Ministry has extended the deadline for the submission of bids for Air India to April 30, from the earlier deadline of March 17, as the government tries to offload 100% of its stake in the beleaguered airline while navigating the coronavirus crisis.
Tata Sons, which already owns 51% of Vistara (UK, Delhi International) as a joint venture with Singapore Airlines (49%) and 51% of AirAsia India (Bengaluru International), had already expressed an interest in buying Air India but said this may not go ahead due to fears of possible liabilities arising out of litigation.
Combined, these two Indian carriers made a loss of over INR15 billion rupees (USD197.5 million) in the last fiscal year ending in 2019, according to the Times of India.
“I will ask the team to evaluate it,” Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran told the newspaper about a possible acquisition. “Ideally it should be a Vistara decision, not a Tata Sons decision,” he said, elaborating: “I’m not going to run a third airline unless we merge. There are issues. I will never say yes or no. I don’t know.”
