Starting the process of incorporating a new company for its proposed aviation venture with Singapore Airlines, Tata group has sought to register this entity as 'Tata SIA Airlines Limited'.
A day after FIPB cleared the Tata-Singapore Airlines' (SIA) airline venture, Tata group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata and SIA chief Goh Choon Phong on Friday met Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh exuding confidence of launching flights by May-June next year.
Full-service airline Tata-SIA, submitted its application for the grant of Air Operator's Permit (AOP or flying license) in April.
In their new venture, Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, Tata Sons would hold 51 per cent stake and Singapore Airlines 49 per cent.
Singapore Airline along with its Indian JV partner have got clearance from the aviation ministry.
Competition Commission of India (CCI) has issued a show cause notice to the parties with respect to the proposed merger of Tata Group airlines Vistara and Air India, according to a source. The fair trade watchdog issues notice asking why an investigation should not be initiated only after forming a prima-facie opinion that the deal could adversely impact competition in the marketplace. Vistara and Air India are the two full-service carriers that are part of the Tata Group, and Singapore Airlines holds a 49 per cent stake in Vistara.
FIA has filed two separate petitions challenging the approvals granted to Tata-Airasia and Tata-SIA Airlines deals respectively.
Earlier, the JV company got a go-ahead from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in October 2013 and was awaiting AOP for launching a full-service carrier.
Tata Sons is all set to acquire a residual stake of 16.33 per cent in AirAsia India from its joint venture (JV) partner AirAsia Berhad for $19 million (or Rs 142 crore) by early next year. The valuation is in accordance with the previous transaction under which AirAsia Berhad had sold its 32.6 per cent stake, said a banking source. Tata Group had increased its stake in AirAsia India at a valuation of $115 million.
Several new airlines are likely to fly in the Indian sky in the coming months with the government giving flying licence to four of the six companies, which had sought permits for launching scheduled, private or charter air operations.
However, this was subject to conditions like substantial ownership and effective control of the airline being vested in Indian nationals.
With the FIPB giving approval to the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture to start a full-service carrier, Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata on Friday met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.
JV will set up a full-service carrier based out of New Delhi.
As per information available with the Corporate Affairs Ministry, the new company was incorporated on November 5 with a total paid up capital of Rs 500,000 and has been registered in New Delhi.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
Besides the major metros, the proposed airline would also connect Srinagar, Patna, Chandigarh and Jammu.
The Indian government allowed foreign airlines to buy up to 49 per cent stakes in Indian carriers in September 2012.
It started commercial operations as a full service carrier on January 9.
The full-service airline has faced multiple challenges in its run.
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As per the FIPB agenda, the proposal will be taken up on October 18.
Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL's JioMart is set to launch a slew of new products including financial services, electronics to airline tickets to take on the competition from upcoming rivals like the Tata Super app and other established players including PayTM, Amazon and Flipkart. This comes at a time when RIL's e-commerce revenues are set to grow by 35 per cent to $15 billion within four years and its core retail revenue is expected to grow at the same pace to $44 billion, as per a forecast by Goldman Sachs. "The Tata vs JioMart war will be the next big corporate battle to watch. "While Tata has an upper hand like in-house products and brands, RIL has the backing of global biggies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft," said head of a rating firm asking not to be quoted.
The Tata-SIA airline Vistara is gearing up to station an indigenously developed robot, RADA, at its signature lounge at Delhi airport's Terminal 3. Powered by AI, the robot is programmed to scan boarding passes, provide information on the terminal, departure gates, real-time flight status and weather conditions of destination city etc. And RADA can also entertain people by playing games and multimedia content, says Sangeeta Tanwar.
They say better late than never. For the Tatas, the original owners of Air India, bringing back the airline to its fold is worth the wait even if the attempt to privatise the bleeding national carrier by successive governments has taken over two decades. While many airlines have come and gone from the Indian skies since the time when the first move was made to privatise Air India to date, the salt-to-software conglomerate has never let the love affair with aviation, more so with Air India that its former chairman Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (JRD) had, to go off the radar. It is said that Tata group executives used to complain in private that JRD -- the pioneer of the Indian aviation industry -- spent more time worrying about Air India than the Tata group when he was heading both the entities.
The group began to outperform the broader market only with the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 while earlier it was largely keeping pace with the Sensex. The group's market cap is up 164.4 per cent since the end of March 2020 against a 105 per cent rally in the Sensex.
Tatas and Singapore Airlines have assured the government that control of their proposed airline venture would always remain in Indian hands, while seeking approval to offer passenger services on both domestic and international routes.
Vistara launched first flight from Hyderabad to New Delhi on Sunday.
The exact figure not known yet but advertisements for recruiting employees would hit print this week.
"The strategic divestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100 per cent shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control," DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a tweet. A new board, led by the strategic partner, takes charge of Air India, he added.
Jet Airways, IndiGo and GoAir achieved operating profits of Rs 122.6 crore (Rs 1.22 billion), Rs 795.8 crore (Rs 7.95 billion) and Rs 85.1 crore (Rs 851 million) respectively during the same period, Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal said in reply to a question.
Tata-SIA have applied to the Civil Aviation Ministry for a no-objection certificate to start a full-service airline in India.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed a plea to implead DGCA as a party to a PIL seeking quashing of approvals being granted by the Centre to operationalise the $30 million deal between Tata Sons and Malaysia-based AirAsia.
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The proposal of Tatas and Singapore Airlines for a new joint venture, entailing foreign investment of $49 million, is likely to come up before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for approval on October 18.
While four of the directors would be nominated by Tata Sons, the other two would be representatives of Singapore Airlines.
Singapore Airlines has given new brand names to two carriers it controls - SilkAir (short-haul) and Scoot (low-cost, long-haul.
Making a strong case for approval of their proposed airline JV, Tatas and Singapore Airlines have said that the venture would create significant job opportunities in India and would boost the country's image as an international investment destination.
Eyeing potential business opportunity, Boeing Corporation is planning to approach the proposed Tata-Singapore Airlines.
For debt-laden Jet Airways, bitter foe Tata may turn into timely saviour.
Phee Teik Yeoh, who has returned to the SIA HQ in Singapore worked hard to make Vistara the airline of choice. New CEO Leslie Thng would have the job of cutting losses while going international.
The inaugural flight took off in the presence of Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mahesh Sharma, along with a number of other people.
Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA), which recently received a no-objection certificate from the ministry of civil aviation to start a full-service airline (Tata-SIA Airlines), are in the process of securing an import licence for 20 Airbus A320 aircraft.
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