Last September, Tony Fernandes, owner of AirAsia, had a round of meetings with the Tata Sons management. The Tatas proposed a fundamental change on how the joint venture would operate in India. Fernandes was not comfortable with the idea.

This was not his style of running a business. He likes to be in total control. So far, Fernandes had been calling the shots in the partnership venture, even with the Tatas holding 51 per cent in AirAsia India. But, under the scanner of investigative agencies for violating FDI norms, the airline had failed to get permission for foreign …