AirAsia gets govt nod for Indian JV name

AirAsia (India) Private Ltd has been registered in Maharashtra

Gearing up to launch services in India in partnership with Tatas, Malaysia-based low-cost airline AirAsia has got the Ministry of Corporate Affairs approval for the name of its Indian venture that is to be called AirAsia (India) Private Ltd.

The name of the new company has been registered in the state of Maharashtra and the approval was granted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) earlier this month, a senior official said.

The company is now in the process of incorporating itself in India and completing other formalities of submitting the required documents and certificates with the Ministry, he said. The filing process for the new venture is being completed on a fast-track basis, he added.

Before incorporating itself in India, a company needs to get its name approved by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, after which it is required to file an application for incorporation.

Thereafter, the company needs to file a notice of situation of registered office, followed by filings related to particulars of appointment of managing director, directors, manager and secretary.

The country's foreign direct investment clearance body FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) has already approved investment in the new venture, wherein Malyasia-based AirAsia would hold 49% stake, Tata Sons will have 30% and 21% stake would be owned by Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace.

Being started with an initial investment of $ 14.5 million (about Rs 80 crore), AirAsia India would compete in the domestic passenger aviation space with the likes of Jet Airways, Spicejet, IndiGo, Go Air and state-run Air India.

AirAsia and Tatas announced their plans to start the low-cost airline in India on February 20, while the FIPB approved the foreign investment for the venture earlier this month.

The airline needs to get a no-objection certificate from the Aviation Ministry and thereafter an air transport license from the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) to be declared a scheduled airline.

AirAsia India would also mark the re-entry of Tatas into the aviation space after about 60 years of JRD Tata-founded Air India being nationalised in 1953.

The company is also in process of finalising its senior executive team and hiring of other employees and plans to start operations later this year.

AirAsia chief Tony Fernandez recently tweeted that he has selected the CEO for AirAsia India and the final call would be taken by the Tatas.

AirAsia group recorded a 13% passenger growth in 2012 with about 33.8 million passengers carried during the year in its Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia operations.