Tata Sons has won the bid to acquire national carrier Air India. The company placed a winning bid of ₹ 18,000 crore to re-acquire the airline more than half a century after it ceded control to the government. Apart from 100 per cent stake in Air India and its low-cost arm, Air India Express, the winning bid also includes a 50 per cent stake in ground-handling company Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited (AISATS).
DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that Tata’s special purpose vehicle (SPV) Tallis Pvt Limited emerged as the winning bidder
Earlier this month both Tata Sons and SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh (in his private capacity) had placed bids. Reports last month that Tata had won the bid were played down by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who said then that nothing had been finalised.
Four bidders entered the race, with the Tatas and Ajay Singh the only ones to make it to the final stages. Air India has accumulated losses of over ₹ 70,000 crore and the government loses nearly ₹ 20 crore every day.
