Tata Sons wins bid for Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia calls it "a new dawn" for airline

Tata Sons has won the bid to acquire national carrier Air India, today, 8 October. The group placed a winning bid of Rs 18,000 crore to acquire 100 percent stake in Air India, as well as its low-cost arm, Air India Express, and a 50 percent stake in the carrier’s SATS Airport Services Private Limited (AISATS). With this move, Air India comes back to its founder after a period of 68 years. Several prominent people expressed joy at the ‘Maharaja’ coming back to its original home. Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia extended his congratulations to the Tata Group and said the privatisation of Air India “marks a new dawn for the airline!” Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, posted an emotional message on social media, writing “Welcome back Air India”. The 83-year-old industrialist added that his father, JRD Tata, “Tata would have been overjoyed if he was in our midst today.” Tata admitted that while it would take his company time rebuild the national carrier to its previous reputation, it would provide a great opportunity for the Tata Group to extend its presence in the aviation industry. N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, said that he was delighted to win the bid. He added that it was “a historic moment” for the company and called it “a rare privilege” for Tata Sons to own and operate the national carrier. Chandrasekaran promised to build a “world-class airline that makes every Indian proud”. Economist and former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said that Tata Group acquiring Air India was “the first privatization in more than fifteen years. Hope it paves the way for more.” SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh extended his congratulations to the Tata Group for winning the bid on the national carrier. Singh, whose company had also bid for Air India, said he was “confident that that the Tata Group will restore the glory of Air India and make all of India proud." According to the government, the Tata Group will retain employees of Air India for the first year after the acquisition. The carrier was established as Tata Air Services in 1932 by JRD Tata, who continued to be its chairman till 1977. In 1953, the Union government nationalised the company. At present, the Tata Group is present in the aviation sector through Vistara and AirAsia India. The former is in partnership with Singapore Airlines, while the latter is in partnership with Malaysia’s AirAsia.