Air India returns to Tatas after group puts in winning bid of Rs 18,000 cr

More than three years after it failed to get even a single bid for Air India, the government on Friday announced the sale of the national carrier to the salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group at an enterprise value of Rs 18,000 crore. This is the first major privatisation step in about two decades.

With this, Air India will return to the Tatas after 68 years. Along with the brand and the slots of the debt-ridden state-owned airline, the Tatas will get the low-cost subsidiary Air India Express and a 50 per cent stake in ground handling firm AISATS.

Of the bid amount of Rs 18,000 crore, the Tatas will pay Rs 2,700 crore in cash, while taking the remaining Rs 15,300 crore as debt.