N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, said the conglomerate is “delighted” at winning the bid for Air India and that this is a “historic moment.”
The Government of India declared Tata Sons the official winner of the divestment process of Air India. Tata Sons placed a bid worth Rs 18,000 crore, which was at least Rs 2,900 crore higher than their opponent, Ajay Singh, who is the promoter of SpiceJet. Singh had placed the bid in his individual capacity and as a part of the consortium.
Post the announcement, Chandrasekaran said: “At the Tata group, we are delighted to be declared as the winner of the bid for AIR INDIA. This is a historic moment, and it will be a rare privilege for our Group to own and operate the country’s flag bearer airline. It will be our endeavour to build a world-class airline that makes every Indian proud.”
On this occasion, he also paid tribute to J.R.D. Tata, a pioneer of Indian aviation and the founder of Air India, formerly known as Indian Airlines, over 68 years ago.