Tata group targets stake in Air India
Tata group targets stake in Air India
NEW DELHI (AFP): India's Tata group has pulled out of the race
for a stake in domestic state-run carrier Indian Airlines, but
has submitted a bid for international airline Air India.
"We have not put in the bid for Indian Airlines. We have
submitted one for Air India," a Tata group official told AFP.
The deadline for the final submission of the bid for both the
state-owned airlines was Friday, which was earlier extended from
the end of January.
The Tata group, which pioneered aviation in India, submitted
initial bids for both state-run international carrier Air India
and Indian Airlines.
The government has permitted up to 26 percent of Indian
Airlines to be sold to a strategic partner, with the remainder
going to the airlines' employees, financial institutions and the
public.
With Tata out of the competition for a stake in Indian
Airlines, the fight for the domestic carrier is likely to narrow
down to India's Hinduja business family and consumer electronics
Videocon group.
An official working for the British-based billionaire Hinduja
brothers told AFP the group had tied up with a consulting firm of
Lufthansa AG to bid for both Air India and Indian Airlines.
Indian Airlines, the country's largest domestic airline, has a
fleet of 56 aircraft, including 11 Boeing 737s operated by
subsidiary Alliance Air.
At least five bidders are in the race for Air India including
Tata-Singapore Airlines, Air France and Delta Airlines, and the
Hindujas.
Local media reports said London-based steel magnate L.N.
Mittal, who has British Airways and Qantas as his technical
advisors, has also dropped his bid for Air India.
The government is selling a 40 percent stake in Air India and
its privatization has attracted strong interest because the
airline has landing rights in key cities in Europe, the United
States and the Middle East.
Experts say any airline which acquires a stake in Air India
would be in a strong position globally because routes over India
provide a corridor between Asia and Europe.
Air India has an aging fleet of 26 aircraft and is currently
unable to fly on many of the routes for which it has landing
rights.
Meanwhile, Tata Sons, the holding company of India's biggest
industrial conglomerate, the Tata Group, announced on Friday it
had won a case to evict a cybersquatter from 10 contested
Internet domain names.
Tata Sons had filed a complaint at the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) against an Indian agency for
registering 10 domain names which included ratantata.com,
tatapowerco.com, tatatimken.com and jrdtata.com.
The Tata group received the decision in its favor from WIPO
earlier this month after a complaint was filed in December, a
Tata spokeswoman told Reuters by telephone from Bombay.