New Delhi: Divestment of Air India is finally over. The government on Thursday formally handed over Air India to Tata Group. Ahead of the official handover of the national carrier, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded on Thursday with transfer of 100 per cent shares of Air India to Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control.
Here is a short timeline of major events:
1932: Tata Airlines, which was later rebranded as Air India, was launched. The first flight was on the Karachi-Ahmedabad-Bombay route. JRD Tata himself was in the cockpit of the flight.
1946: Tata Airlines going public as a ‘joint stock company’ named Air India.
1948: The Union government buys 49 per cent stake in Air India and the name of the company was again changed to Air India International. However, domestic operations still go by the earlier name.
1953: Parliament passed Air Corporations Act which amalgamate all scheduled airlines to form Indian Airlines and Air India International. Domestic business of Air India was transferred to Indian Airlines.
1978: The central government, then headed by Prime Minister Morarji Desai, asked JRD Tata to resign from the post of chairmanship of Air India and Indian Airlines following a crash off the coast of Bombay that killed 213 people.
1980: Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi government appointed JRD Tata to the board of the airlines but loses his chairmanship.
2001: Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata bids for 40 per cent stake at Air India along with Singapore Airlines. This is considered to be the first move by the government for the divestment of Air India. However, Singapore Airlines didn’t persue.
2007: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh merged Air India with Indian Airlines.
2012: PM Manmohan Singh approved the restructuring plans of Air India as it suffered losses of Rs 20,000 crore and had a debt of Rs 43,000 crore.
2018: Prime Minister Narendra Modi government rolls out fresh investment plans to sell 76 per cent shares in Air India, however, didn’t receive a single bid.
2020: Modi government invited bids for 100 per cent stake sell of Air India.
2021: Tata Group and Spicejet promoter Ajay Singh placed bids for acquiring Air India. Later this year, the government announced that Tata Group won the bid to acquire Air India by placing a bid of Rs 18,000 crore.
2022: The government formally handed over Air India to the Tata Group.
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