The homecoming of Air India

At last Air India returned home to its original owner (Tata Air Services), later renamed to Tata Airlines founded by J R D Tata of Tata Sons, an Indian aviator and business tycoon after 69 years of honeymoon with the government of India. The history is that Tata won a contract to carry mail for Imperial Airways and the aviation department of Tata Sons was formed with two single-engine de Havilland Puss Moths.

Initial service included weekly airmail service was operated between Karachi and Madras via Ahmedabad and Bombay. In its first year of operation, the airline flew 260,000 kilometres carrying 155 passengers and 9.72 tons of mail and made a profit of 60,000 crores of rupees. After the World War-11, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company in 1946 under the name Air India.

In 1948, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India and in the same year it operated its first international flight from Bombay to London. Later in 1953, the Government of India passed the Air corporations Act and purchased a majority stake in the carrier from Tata Sons and the company was renamed as Air India International Limited and the domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines as a part of restructuring.

Thus, having reached an agreement with the Tata Group, the government of India handed Air India backto Tata Group on Thursday and the Tata Group now will take full control of the iconic national airline.

Secretary, department of investment and public asset management said, "The formalities have been completed. The Air India disinvestment process is closed. The shares have been transferred to Talace Pvt Ltd, which is the new owner of Air India." It may be recalled that the government had in October last year signed the share purchase agreement with the Tata Group for the sale of Air India for Rs.18,000 crores.

The Tata Group will pay Rs.2,700 crores in cash and take over Rs. 15,300 crores of the airline's debt. Union minister for civil aviation JyotiradityaScindia said that it was indeed noteworthy the disinvestment process of Air India had been brought to a successful conclusion in a time-bound manner.

The minister also said, "I am confident that the airline will bloom under their wings, and pave the way for a thriving and robust civil aviation industry in India." So, in a sense, people have lost a public property of the country as the Air India goes back to its Tata Group again, and Air India, once a prima donna among the international airline services, has become a part of history. Now it is up to the Tata Group to make it greater from their control.

T K Nandanan, Kochi