TATA has initiated due diligence on Air India ahead of making a formal bid close to the deadline which is at the end of August.
The news was reported in local media and a spokesperson of the TATA group told Trak.in, “TATA Sons is currently evaluating the proposal and will consider a bid after due consideration and at the appropriate time. There is no plan to bring in a financial partner.”
If TATA is successful in its bid it would mark a return home for the airline which was formed as a division of Tata Sons in 1932 and was operated under the name Tata airlines up to 1946 when it became publicly owned and named Air India.
The India government currently holds a 76% stake in the airline and has been trying to exit the business since 2018, however a series of problems – most recently COVID 19 has put the process on hold.
Despite the impact of the pandemic the Indian Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri confirmed the government intended to go-ahead with the disposal at the first opportunity.