AI: Branding & Billion Dollars

Tatas will have to infuse substantial equity and run two brands to optimise the Air India acquisition

- Gurcharan Das

Good news is so rare that one cherishes every sparkling droplet of it. On Friday afternoon, the ‘ghar wapsi’ of Air India was one such news – for the Tatas, for the Modi government, for the tax-paying Indian citizen, for air travellers, and for India’s reform programme.

Air India was returned to its founders after being cruelly snatched in 1953 by a stupid act in the name of socialism. The airline ended in becoming a symbol of licence raj’s lunacy. Today it loses around Rs 20 crore daily and has accumulated losses of Rs 1 lakh crore.

But the Air India sale is not as bad as people think; nor as good. For Tatas, it could turn out to be a courageous act of a lifetime or a disaster.

Air India is India’s first privatisation after 19 years. It sends a powerful signal that India is ready to do business sensibly. Earlier, Air India failed repeatedly to be privatised because of unrealistic expectations. The lesson is to be open, flexible, and listen to potential customers. This sale is a feather in the government’s cap, making it easier to divest the vast number of companies waiting in queue.

‘Welcome home,’ Ratan Tata tweeted, greeting the sick maharajah, founded in 1932 by JRD Tata. When Jawaharlal Nehru realised his mistake, nationalising a perfectly healthy business that brought prestige to the nation, he atoned by appointing JRD Tata as chairman. Thus, Air India was able to maintain high standards for decades.