"Financial bids for Air India disinvestment received by Transaction Adviser. Process now moves to concluding stage," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted.
Supported by strong buoyancy in public sector capital expenditure (capex), growth in infrastructure investment is expected to accelerate in 2025-26 (FY26) compared to 2024-25 (FY25), according to the First Advance Estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for FY26 released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday.
'The business continuity clause will mean the Tatas will have to keep running the airline for three years, and cannot exit the flying business.'
When the Tatas re-boarded Air India on January 27 last year, the price of aviation turbine fuel was at over Rs 80,000 per kilolitre. Rupee was trading at around Rs 74 to a US dollar. The Omicron variant of Covid-19 was in prevalence - barely a week earlier, India had reported over 340,000 cases on a single day. Seven-day home quarantine of international travellers was the norm.
The landmark Air India-Boeing deal will create up to 1 million jobs across 44 states in the US and will further deepen bilateral ties, President Joe Biden has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Boeing and Air India announced a mega deal on Tuesday under which the Tata Group-owned airline will purchase 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787, and 10 B777X for a total of 220 firm orders valued at $34 billion at list price. The deal will also include customer options for an additional 50 Boeing 737 MAX and 20 Boeing 787, totalling 290 airplanes for a total of $45.9 billion at the list price.
India has gained one more festival -- the season of Black Friday.
Anjuli Bhargava's musings on why the national carrier is well beyond a turnaround.
This is the fourth extension given by the government for putting in bids.
Telangana's anti-narcotics wing, the EAGLE Force, conducted a multi-state operation against a Nigerian drug cartel, resulting in over 50 arrests and the seizure of narcotics worth Rs 3.5 crore.
The changes are in view of the requests received from interested bidders and the prevailing situation arising out of COVID-19.
Automobile retail sales in India rose around 5 per cent year-on-year in June with all vehicle segments, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, witnessing growth, Federation of Automotive Dealers Associations (FADA) said on Monday.
Tata Sons has emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of debt-laden State-run airline Air India but the bid is yet to be approved by a group of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said.
Proceeds may be used to partly pay off its Rs 46,570-cr debt
Tickets will be sold only through Air India website from August 27-31 and for travel during August 27-September 30.
As the Tata group inches closer to taking over Air India in January 2022, the $242-billion conglomerate will also inherit a stake in Kerala's Cochin airport. The Tatas would become the only airline to have an operational stake in a major Indian airport. The airport is a strategic hub connecting India to Middle East nations - home to the largest share of Indian migrant workers. In addition to Air India and Air India Express, private carrier Indigo also uses Cochin to ferry the lucrative 'Malayali Gulf traffic' to multiple locations like Jeddah, Riyadh, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait and Bahrain, among others. According to regulatory filings, Air India has a three per cent stake in Cochin International Airport.
Two aborted missions, three different ministers, multiple rule changes and two decades later, Indian taxpayers will no longer have to pay Rs 20 crore per day to keep the loss-making Air India flying. While opposition Congress expectedly attacked the decision as selling the family silver, DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said what Tata is getting is not a cash cow but an airline which is bleeding where money needs to be pumped in to refurbish obsolete aircraft and dust up strangled ones while being unable to touch any employee for one year and only be able to resize staff after paying a VRS. "It won't be a very easy task there. Only advantage is they (new Air India owner) are paying the price which they think they can manage. "They are not taking the excessive debt accumulated to fund years of losses. We are continuing it as an ongoing concern.... This process has also saved huge amount of taxpayers money going forward," Pandey told PTI.
Consumer durables makers are hopeful that the government's proposal to reduce goods and services tax (GST) on air conditioners and television panels above 32 inches to 18 per cent would help revive the sector.
The new owner may be allowed to dispose of assets accruing from the 10-26 per cent of the net assets of the company.
For LG Electronics India, the Rs 11,607 crore initial public offering (IPO) is not just a fundraising exercise. The company's senior executives describe it as a step towards becoming "future-ready", showcasing financial strength while preparing for the next phase of growth in a market they see as still underpenetrated.
'The Modi government is trying hard to see if it could be sold to a private airline.' 'But it appears there are no takers.' 'If no buyer comes forward by June, the government will close down Air India,' predicts A K Bhattacharya.
With a debt of several thousand crore rupees, there's no chance the government can attract any buyer unless it cleans up the balance sheet, says Anjuli Bhargava.
There are vexing questions around the disconnect between Nifty returns and portfolio returns, between economic growth and earnings growth, and finally, between earnings growth and market returns, points out Debashis Basu.
A consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) has agreed to provide loans to Tata Group for the smooth operations of loss-making Air India. Tata Group, which won the bid to acquire the national carrier along with Air India Express and 50 per cent stake in AISATS in October last year, is expected to formally takeover the airline on Thursday. Sources said the SBI-led consortium has agreed to grant both term loans and working capital loans depending on the airline's requirements. All large lenders, including Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Union Bank of India, are part of the consortium, they added.
The government also sought approval from Parliament for equity infusion worth Rs 2,345 crore into struggling Air India and another Rs 1,300 crore for Air India Asset Holding.
Ernst & Young LLP India has been appointed as transaction adviser for the strategic divestment process.
The move to increase sales comes ahead of Tata- Singapore Airlines' entry in the domestic market.
'Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused,' the airline added.
It is Air India's only profitable subsidiary. In 2016-17, it clocked a profit of over Rs 33.4 crore, earning Rs 620 crore in revenues from its handling operations.
The United States has refuted reports that it will supply new advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAMs) to Pakistan, clarifying that a recent contract amendment only covers sustainment and spare parts.
The development comes as relations between the two countries showed marked improvement following the four-day military conflict between Pakistan and India in May.
United States President Donald Trump reiterated the claims of having to do 'something' about Greenland, saying that if US doesn't take any action, Russia and China would spring in and that Washington, DC does not want to have them as neighbours.
Gurugram, already established as the corporate hub of Delhi-NCR, is increasingly attracting developers from outside the region, drawn by robust end-user demand, premium pricing, and emerging development opportunities.
These purchases represent the third phase of Air India's 68-aircraft fleet renewal plan. EXIM Bank had earlier approved $1.2 billion in 2007 and $548.8 million in 2008 to support the financing of NACIL's purchases of Boeing aircraft.
The government is selling its entire 100 per cent stake in Air India but wants effective control to stay with Indian nationals.
LG Electronics India made a dazzling market debut on Tuesday, ending 48 per cent higher than its issue price and surpassing its South Korean parent in market value.
Airline told to transfer non-core assets, subsidiaries to special purpose vehicle
According to Air India, the number of flights per week would be increased on routes such as Delhi-Bengaluru-Delhi, Delhi-Amritsar-Delhi, Chennai-Ahmedabad-Chennai and Chennai-Kolkata-Chennai.
The proposal to sell the building to state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust also comes after the government's efforts of Air India strategic disinvestment failed to take off.
The government on Wednesday permitted NRIs to invest up to 100 per cent stake in disinvestment-bound Air India. The decision comes at a time when the government has sought preliminary bids for 100 per cent stake sale in the national carrier. "Today's decision on Air India is one milestone decision where NRIs... will get permission to invest 100 per cent in the airline," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters at a briefing about the Union Cabinet's decision.
