Maharaja boards return flight

Air India will return to the Tata Group, where it was born as India’s first air service 89 years ago, marking the end of an era in which India ran a national carrier from shortly after Independence, but also the start of a new chapter that could end years of taxpayer-funded life support that kept the airline afloat.

Tata Sons, the holding company for the autos-to-steel Tata conglomerate, will pay ₹18,000 crore for a 100% stake in Air India, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, said at a briefing on Friday.