The Indian government has agreed the sale of flag-carrier Air India to the Mumbai-based multinational Tata Group in a $2.4 billion deal.
The loss-making carrier will change hands for $368 million, with Tata taking on $2 billion of Air India’s $8.2 billion debt.
The government will hold the remaining debts.
The sale is due to be completed by the end of the year following a lengthy privatisation process, with
the previous attempt at a sale in 2018 failing to attract a bidder as the government sought to retain a 26% stake.
Air India is reported to be losing $2.6 million a day and to have cost the government more than
$14 billion since 2009.
Air India has a fleet of 141 aircraft and 13,500 employees, who have been promised a year’s job security.
The carrier was originally established by Tata in the 1930s and named Tata Airlines before being nationalised in 1953.
It enjoyed a domestic monopoly until 1991 but today carries less than 12% of India’s domestic passenger traffic.