New Delhi: The government will not extend the deadline of bids for Air India beyond August 31 for the fourth time and the Tata Group is likely to make a formal bid by the end of this month, sources aware of the development told ETV Bharat.
"Not only the Tata Group but few other entities like Germany's Lufthansa, UAE's Etihad Airways, have also shown their interest for its stake in state-run carrier Air India," said sources.
Currently, steel-to-autos conglomerate Tata Group owns the majority of the shares in two airlines, Vistara and Air Asia India. As per the industry experts, if the Tata Group bids successfully for Air India, then the group will have a fleet of 146 aircrafts.
In 1932, the national carrier was started as a division of Tata Sons Ltd and was run as Tata Airlines till 1946 and after which it became a public limited company and was renamed as Air India.
The Centre had in June extended the deadline to submit an EoI (expression for interest) for Air India till August 31 as the coronavirus outbreak disrupted economic activities globally.