Netizens expressed their joy and happiness as ‘life came a full circle’ for Air India after the Mumbai-based conglomerate Tata Sons won the bid for debt-ridden Air India by pipping SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh. While some users were happy that Tata Group was finally able to take back the reins of Air India almost 68 years after its nationalisation in 1953, others shared funny memes.
Veteran investor and fund manager Porinju Veliyath shared a black-and-white photograph featuring the former Prime Ministers of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan with JRD Tata and tweeted, “Life comes full circle for Air India after 68 years! Back to its rightful owners. It’s a landmark moment in Indian economic history – and the end of the dark ages of nationalisation.”
For the unversed, the Indian government has been trying to sell the airline, which has accumulated a loss of $9.53 billion. The government tried to auction a majority stake in Air India but could not find bidders. This prompted the government to relax the terms and conditions related to this bid. It also extended the deadline for the bid many times during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tata Group made inroads into the world of aviation as early as 1932 with Tata Airlines or Air India, which went to the government after its nationalisation in 1953. The Tata Group was, however, at the helm of affairs till 1977. The conglomerate re-entered the aviation business with the budget carrier AirAsia India in 2014 and, a few months later, added Vistara to its portfolio.
Edited by Mehak Agarwal
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