With Air India bid, Tatas hope to give wings to their aviation dream

Nearly two decades after its plan to take over Air India was scuppered by political and employee protests, the Tata group is taking another shot at acquiring the national carrier. The Tatas are pioneers of civil aviation in the country — the first Indian company to launch postal mail service and international flights from India.
 

Over the past three decades, the group made unsuccessful attempts to get back into the commercial aviation business. In 1995, the Tatas joined hands with Singapore Airlines to set up a new airline, but the proposal fell through because of opposition from other private airlines and a change of government in 1996.
 

Five years later, the two sides teamed up to acquire Air India in a privatisation process initiated by the BJP-led government.

However, the sale process fell through again and Singapore Airlines walked out, wary of political opposition to Air India's privatisation.
 

The Tatas were finally successful in launching two joint venture airlines - AirAsia India in 2014 and Vistara in 2015. With the submission of an expression of interest for Air India, the Tatas hope to give wings to their aviation dream once again.