Air India's shareholders approve transfer of four subsidiaries to Air India Assets Holding

Air India | Representative image

The shareholders of Air India Ltd on October 26 approved the transfer of its four subsidiaries to Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL), the company said in a statement after an extraordinary general meeting.

The shareholders of Air India have approved the transfer of Air India Air Transport Services Ltd., Airline Allied Services Ltd, which runs Alliance Air, Air India Engineering Services Ltd, and Hotel Corporation of India to AIAHL.

The transfer of subsidiaries came just a day after the government signed the share purchase agreement with Tata Sons for disinvestment of Air India.

Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons had, earlier this month, emerged as the successful bidder to buy out the government’s share in the airline.

The Tata Group had emerged successful in the divestment process of Air India with a bid of Rs 18,000 crore as the airline’s enterprise value. The Tatas will own 100 percent in Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express and 50 percent in the joint venture Air India SATS.

After the transaction closes, the government will be left with Air India’s non-core assets and Rs 46,262 crore of debt, which will be transferred to AIAHL, a special purpose vehicle formed by the government to provide unified asset holding services.

Earlier this month Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey had said that the government will now start work on monetising its four other subsidiaries, including Alliance Air, and non-core assets like land and building.

As a precursor to Air India sale, the government in 2019 had set up a special purpose vehicle — Air India Assets Holding Ltd — for holding debt and non-core assets of the Air India group.