Tatas officially take over Air India

New Delhi, Jan 27: The Tata Sons have officially taken over Air India Today. On Thursday, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the the take over.

The board members of the airline are expected to resign today and the Tata nominees will take over following that.

After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited -- a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company -- for Rs 18,000 crore.

The officials said the new date from which all Air India flights will fly under "Tata Group's banner or aegis" will be told to the employees later.

Three days after Air India's sale was announced on October 8 last year, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was issued to the Tata Group confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 percent stake in the airline. On October 25, the Centre signed the share purchase agreement (SPA) for this deal.

As a part of the deal, the Tata group will also be handed over Air India Express and a 50 percent stake in ground handling arm Air India SATS.

Tatas had on October 8 beat the Rs 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore set by the government for the sale of its 100 per cent stake in the loss-making carrier.

While this will be the Centre's first privatisation since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tatas' stable as it holds a majority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd.

(PTI)