Aerospace

Tata chairman says interested in bidding for Air India

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Tata conglomerate is interested in bidding for state-owned Air India as the group needs to increase the sizes of its aviation business, its boss told television channel CNBC TV18 in an interview on Monday.

Tata would “definitely look” at Air India once the government finalised the privatisation process, N. Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata group’s holding company Tata Sons, told the channel.

He said Tata, which already has two small airline joint ventures in India, one with Singapore Airlines and the other with Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd, was still not clear about what a sale would look like.

The government has not said whether it will sell all or parts of Air India and what it might do about the loss-making airline’s debt burden of $8.5 billion.

“We still don’t have all the details,” Chandrasekaran said. “We have two airlines, both are subscale. I feel scale is important.”

When asked whether Tata had spoken to Singapore Airlines about its interest in bidding for Air India, Chandrasekaran said: “Do you think I would have not?”

Tata’s interest in Air India has been reported but Chandrasekaran had not spoken publicly about a possible bid.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet in June gave the go-ahead to sell Air India, which has received $3.6 billion since 2012 in state aid.

Last month the government invited bids to appoint financial and legal advisors for the sale process.

Some companies including low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, ground handling company Bird Group and Turkey’s Celebi Aviation Holdings have expressed an interest in buying some of Air India’s various businesses.

Courtesy : Reuters

Aerospace

When Ratan Tata was denied entry to the airfield at the Aero India show, he waited

During our visit to Aero India 2019, we had the unexpected opportunity to see Ratan Tata at the event, which was a thrilling moment for us. However, there was a surprising hiccup when the security staff didn’t allow him to enter due to a lack of a security pass.

Despite this, he remained calm and patiently waited for about 20 minutes until a member of the Tata team brought him the required pass, after which he calmly proceeded inside. It was a humbling sight, showcasing his composed demeanor even in such situations.

Ratan Tata ji is not only a renowned industrialist but also a trained pilot, holding a pilot’s license. In 2007, he became the first Indian civilian to fly the F-16 Falcon during the Aero India show in Bangalore—a proud moment for the nation.

His passion for aviation extended beyond flying, as he played a key role in shaping India’s aerospace industry. Under his leadership, Tata ventured into manufacturing and maintaining aerospace components while upholding its legacy of quality. Notably, Tata’s collaboration with Airbus to develop and manufacture the C295 aircraft is a testament to its growing influence in the sector.