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.
Tata group-owned AirAsia India's inability to get approval for international flights is hurting UDAN, the Indian government's regional air connectivity project that also aims to link cities in Northeast India and Odisha to places abroad. Sources said the civil aviation ministry is waiting for the low-cost airline to come under the full ownership of Tata Sons and become part of Air India, the former state-owned carrier now owned by the private conglomerate, before allowing it to operate international flights. Tata owns 84 per cent stake in AirAsia India and it is understood that the group will complete the process of buying rest of the stake by July's end.
Tha airline launches maiden flight to Goa; will begin service to Chennai on June 19.
AirAsia India, which started operations on June 12 2014, had a market share of 6.2 per cent of the domestic traffic in April.
Tata Sons will increase its stake in budget carrier AirAsia India (AAI) to 83.67 per cent by acquiring an additional 32.67 per cent for $37.66 million from AirAsia Investment Ltd (AAIL), according to a regulatory filing. Currently, AAIL, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia-based AirAsia, holds 49 per cent stake in the Bengaluru-based AirAsia India. In a regulatory filing to stock exchange Bursa Malaysia, AirAsia said, "The board of directors of AirAsia wishes to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary AAIL and Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, India, on December 29, entered into a share purchase agreement."
AirAsia has rolled out fares as low as Rs 3,399 for a Visakhapatnam-Kuala Lumpur.
Samsung last week suspended sales of its latest flagship smartphone and announced a recall of 2.5 million units already sold, after faulty batteries caused some handsets to explode during charging.
The bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog issued notices to the Centre, Foreign Investment Promotion Board and Commerce and Civil Aviation ministries and sought their responses by October 30.
Tony Fernandes said the aviation sector here was a "double marathon" and not a "sprint".
AirAsia is facing a legal challenge from Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy, whose petition comes up for hearing at the Delhi HIgh Court on Wednesday.
At the heart of the current controversy is the government's FDI rule
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday moved the Delhi High Court seeking an order restraining the Centre from granting any approval to AirAsia for its operations in India.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Manmohan issued notice to Civil Aviation Ministry, DGCA and others and sought their response by October 30.
The reported buyback of Temasek's 20 per cent stake in Tata Play by Tata Sons will be the third instance of Tata Group providing an exit to a foreign partner in recent years. In 2018, Tata Sons paid $1.27 billion to DoCoMo to buy back 26 per cent of the group's telecommunication venture, Tata Teleservices. This was followed by Tata Sons acquiring AirAsia Berhad's 49 per cent stake in AirAsia India in two tranches to make it a wholly owned subsidiary.
This was good enough for Fernandes to hire Chandilya to lead his India business.
The AirAsia aircraft that went missing after taking off from Indonesia with 162 people on board may be at the bottom of the sea, a top Indonesian official said on Monday, as the multinational search for the Airbus continued amid fading hopes of finding any survivors.
For the AI bid, Interups has joined hands with a few employees of the airline, and plans to raise funds by splitting some of its infrastructure-related assets into an aviation InvIT, which will have underlying assets such as air routes, ground handling, repairs, and training etc.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances