Tata Group takes over ‘Maharaja’; Assures Customers value experience

New Delhi, Jan 27 (UNI) Soon after taking over Air India, the Tata Group on Thursday termed the transaction as historic and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to reforms and faith in India’s entrepreneurship spirit had made it possible. “Our Prime Minister has, in action, demonstrated what his commitment to ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ means,” Tata Group said in a statement here. The salt-to-software conglomerate said that it philosophically agrees with the Prime Minister’s vision for the aviation sector, of making it affordable and ensuring it contributes to boosting ‘Ease of Living’ for citizens. Tata Sons subsidiary Talace had won the bid to acquire Air India for Rs 18,000 crore. As per the terms of the bidding, it was required to make upfront payment of Rs 2,700 crore to the government and retain the debt of Rs 15,300 crore. The transaction completed today, as the government transferred the shares of Air India to the Tatas, along with the management control. Along with Air India, the Tata group has also acquired its wholly-owned subsidiary Air India Express and 50 per cent shares of ground-handling joint venture AISATS. Following the conclusion of transaction, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons Pvt Ltd said , “We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline. I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India, to our Group, and look forward to working together.” Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, joined Chandrasekaran in expressing his ‘thankful recognition’ to the Government of India and its various departments for the successful completion of this important transaction. In 2020-21, the revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was 103 billion dollars. Tata group has hit the ground running and is focusing on improving customer experience. The key areas of work have been identified as on-time performance, engineering, in-flight food and customer grievances.