Air Travel Latest News: The Tata Group is likely to make a formal bid to take over state-run Air India after months of considering acquiring the national carrier that has been put on the block by the central government. Also Read – International Flights: Air India Closes 5 Stations in Europe Over Losses Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

The Tata Sons, the principal investor running a conglomerate of operations under the Tata Group of companies, has already entered the airline business with domestic carrier Vistara and has been the sole bidder for Air India since last month after its joint venture airlines venture, Singapore Airlines declined to join due to COVID-19 woes. Also Read – SpiceJet Introduces in-Flight WiFi-enabled Entertainment System ‘SpiceScreen’

According to reports, the company has already begun due diligence and intends to close the bid by the end of this month. However, no business structure or funding around the take-over has been discussed yet. Also Read – Domestic Flights Latest News: More Than 5 Million Passengers Flew Since Resumption of Air Travel in India

There are also speculations that Tata is planning to merge its exiting stake in AirAsia with Air India into a single entity. However, there has been no official confirmation of these reports.

Notably, The last date for bidding is August 31 and the government is not willing to extend the deadline. The Centre had extended the official deadline in June to submit an Express of Interest (EOI) in view of the pandemic situation.

Air India has been facing a financial crunch from much before the coronavirus onslaught and has been on talks regarding ‘strategic sales’ under the Modi government’s disinvestment policy. The crippling effect of the pandemic, especially in the aviation sector, has further plummeted its finances to a precarious position.

It is also worth mentioning that the national carrier started as a division of Tata Sons Ltd in 1932 and was run as ‘Tata Airlines’ till 1946, after which it became a public limited company, renamed as Air India.

From Tata Airlines and Air India to Vistara and AirAsia India, the Tata group has been an important part of the growing aviation sector in India.