Why Tata's Chandrasekaran should tread carefully before investing in Jet

One option would be for Tata to swap its position in the struggling AirAsia India for a stake in Jet

Jet Airways India Ltd. has already played a part in the decline of Etihad Airways PJSC. Could Tata Sons Ltd. be the next business empire to enter its dangerous web?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought Tata’s help to rescue the struggling airline, people familiar with the matter told Anurag Kotoky and Bhuma Shrivastava of Bloomberg News this week. The conglomerate’s board would want state banks and India’s airports to take a haircut on some of Jet’s commitments to them before going ahead, one of the people said.

That caution over this bout of national service is hardly surprising. Jet has built