Debt-laden Maharaja (Air India) is expected to be handed over to the Tata group on January 27. The closing balance sheet as of January 20 was provided to the new owner (Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata groups holding company) on Monday so that it can be reviewed.
Sources said the final handover date was not finalised but the Government aims to hand over the airline by Thursday. The remaining formalities regarding the deal are likely to be completed in a few days.
After a competitive bidding process, the Government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited fo Rs 18,000 crore.
In a message to the employees on Monday, Air India’s director (finance) Vinod Hejmadi said the divestment of the national carrier is now decided to be on the January 27. “The closing balance sheet as on 20th Jan has to be provided on Jan 24th so that it can be reviewed by Tatas and any changes can be effected on Wednesday,” Hejmadi said in the message on instant messaging platform.
In his email, Hejmadi appreciated the employees for their works and sought support from them.
“We have done an excellent job till now in providing all support for the disinvestment exercise. The next three days will be hectic for our department and I request all of you to give your best in these last three four days before we get divested,” he added.
“If there is no disagreement on the balance sheet, it would be handed over any day after Republic Day”, said sources in the Ministry. The Government has decided to complete the process on January 27 and will decide whether the company will take over the airline now or not. The handover was to be done in December but got delayed due to the various pending approvals. Following delays in finalising the balance sheet of the airline and procuring the necessary approvals from global regulators, the targeted timeline for the closure of the agreement was extended till January end.
The transfer of Air India to Tata Group was earlier supposed to be concluded on 23 January. However, this has since then been pushed by a few days and will be concluded by end of the month,” sources added.
As per the RTI reply by the ministry of civil aviation, the various Government departments and ministries had pending payments amounting to Rs 278.49 crore to Air India till October last year.
The Government on October 11, 2021, issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to the Tata group confirming the Government’s willingness to sell its 100 per cent 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 percent stake in the loss-making carrier.
While this will be the first privatisation since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tatas’ stable - it holds a majority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd.
