NEW DELHI: Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, India’s oldest conglomerate, has won the bid to acquire the debt-laden national flag carrier Air India, the Indian government said on Friday, almost seven decades after the airline founded by the group was taken over by the state.
Air India, founded as Tata Airlines in 1932, was nationalized in 1953. It has been running at a loss since 2007, with an estimated total debt of more than $8.1 billion.
The government said that only one-fourth of Air India’s debt will be incurred by the bidder, while the remaining amount would go to state-owned Air India Assets Holding Limited.
“We received two financial bids on Sept. 15. A panel of ministers cleared the winning bid. Tata is the winning bid,” Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Disinvestment Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey announced in a press conference in New Delhi.
“Tata presented a winning bid of RS18,000 crores ($2.4 billion),” Pandey said. “The transaction is expected to close by the end of December 2021.”
Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal said during the same conference that the airline will be retained by Tata during the first year after the takeover.
“The current bidder will retain all the current employees of Air India for the first year. In the second year, they will see who to retain and can also give voluntary retirement from service,” Bansal said. “As of today, there are 12,085 employees in Air India, out of which 8,084 are permanent and 4,001 are contractual. Besides this, Air India Express has an employee strength of 1,434.”
Budget carrier Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India.
Former head of Tata Group and chairman emeritus Ratan Tata welcomed the airline’s return to its fold.
“On an emotional note, Air India, under the leadership of J.R.D. Tata had, at one time, gained the reputation of being one of the most prestigious airlines in the world,” Tata said in a statement issued by the group. “While admittedly it will take considerable effort to rebuild Air India, it will hopefully provide a very strong market opportunity to the Tata Group’s presence in the aviation industry.”
He added: “Tata will have the opportunity of regaining the image and reputation it enjoyed in earlier years. Mr. J.R.D. Tata would have been overjoyed if he was in our midst today.”
India’s first licensed pilot, J.R.D. Tata established the airline and used to fly mail between Mumbai and Karachi — which after the end of British colonial rule became a part of neighboring Pakistan.
Air India former executive director Jitendra Bhargava told Arab News that the airline’s return to the group will have a sizable impact on the country’s aviation industry. “It is a historic decision by the government to disinvest Air India,” he said. “This will have multiple effects on Indian aviation, one is that Air India will get a fresh lease of life, and second, all the carriers which were competing with the weak Air India will now have to compete with a strong Air India in a few months after the Tata takeover.”
Air India returns to Tata Group in $2.4bn deal
https://arab.news/22wuy
Air India returns to Tata Group in $2.4bn deal
- The government said that only one-fourth of Air India’s debt will be incurred by the bidder
Industry leaders highlight Riyadh’s Metro, infrastructure as investment catalysts
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, is experiencing a transformative phase in its real estate sector, with the construction market projected to reach approximately $100 billion in 2025, accompanied by an anticipated annual growth rate of 5.4 percent through 2029.
The Kingdom is simultaneously advancing its data center capacity at an accelerated pace, with an impressive 2.7 GW currently in the pipeline. This expansion underscores the critical role of strategic land and power planning in establishing national infrastructure as a cornerstone of economic growth.
These insights were shared by leading industry experts during JLL’s recent client event in Riyadh, which focused on the city’s macroeconomic landscape and emerging trends across office, residential, retail, hospitality, and pioneering sectors, including AI infrastructure and Transit-Oriented Development.
Saud Al-Sulaimani, Country Lead and Head of Capital Markets at JLL Saudi Arabia, commented: “Riyadh is positioned at the forefront of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, offering unparalleled opportunities for both investors and developers. National priorities are continuously recalibrated to ensure strategic alignment of projects and foster deeper collaboration with the private sector.”
He added: “Recent regulatory developments, including the introduction of the White Land Tax and the rent freeze, are designed to stabilize the market and are expected to drive renewed focus on delivering premium-quality assets. This dynamic environment, coupled with evolving construction cost considerations in select segments, is fundamentally reshaping the market landscape while accelerating progress toward our national objectives.”
The event further underscored the transformative impact of infrastructure initiatives. Mireille Azzam Vidjen, Head of Consulting for the Middle East and Africa at JLL, highlighted Riyadh’s transit revolution. She detailed the Riyadh Metro, a $22.5 billion investment encompassing 176 kilometers, six lines, and 84 stations, providing extensive geographic coverage, with a depth of 9.8 km per 100 sq. km. This strategic development generates significant TOD opportunities, with properties in proximity potentially commanding a 20-30 percent premium. JLL emphasized the importance of implementing climate-responsive last-mile solutions to enhance mobility and accessibility, particularly given Riyadh’s extreme temperatures.
Gaurav Mathur, Head of Data Centers at JLL, emphasized the rapid expansion of the Kingdom’s AI infrastructure, signaling a critical area for technological investment and innovation.
Focusing on the construction sector, Maroun Deeb, Head of Projects and Development Services, KSA at JLL, explained that the industry is actively navigating complexities such as skilled labor availability, material costs, and supply chain dynamics.
He highlighted the adoption of Building Information Modeling as a key driver for enhancing operational efficiency and project delivery.
