'Won't get into airline business'

Once pioneers in civil aviation, the Tata Group is unlikely to get into the sector because of "destructive competition", Ratan Tata indicated today.

Recalling the group's proposal for a tie-up with Singapore International Airlines for a domestic carrier in India in the mid-1990s, the Tata patriarch pointed out, "It is a different sector today than it was at that time.

"It is somewhat like telecom. It is proliferated by many operators some of them in financial trouble. I would hesitate to go into the sector today in the sense that the chances are that you would have a great deal of competition, which would be unhealthy competition."