India's Tata Sons wins bid for national carrier Air India
ABC News
Tata Sons, India’s oldest and largest conglomerate, will be the new owner of the country’s debt-laden national carrier, Air India
NEW DELHI -- Tata Sons, India’s oldest and largest conglomerate, will be the new owner of the country’s debt-laden national carrier Air India, the government announced on Friday.
Its winning bid of 180 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) beat India's SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh, who offered 151 billion rupees ($2 billion) in his private capacity to acquire the airline, said Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary at the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.
An initial sale attempt by the government in 2018 failed to attract any bidders.
The sale marks the return of Air India to the Tata group, a pioneer in Indian commercial aviation when it first launched the airline in 1932 before it was taken over by the government in 1953.
