Tata Sons won the bid for acquiring national carrier Air India on Friday. “Talace Pvt Ltd of Tata Sons is the winning bidder at Rs 18,000 crores. The transaction is expected to close by the end of December 2021,” Tuhin Kant Pandey, Secretary, DIPAM, said.

As Tata Sons acquired Air India, it seems, history is repeating itself, given the same group founded India’s first airline, Tata Airlines, in 1932. Tata Airlines, founded by JRD Tata and veteran World War I pilot Nevill Vintcent, was renamed Air India after it became public in 1946.

Also Read| Reports claiming Tata Sons winning Air India bid are incorrect: Centre

Air India was one of the greatest airlines in the world in 1953, when the government nationalised it “via the back door,” as Tata phrased it. Tata’s ideal business, he had developed it piece by piece with personal care, even down to the curtains and menu.

When Tata learned of the decision made by then-prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he was saddened. “I can only deplore that such an important step should have been made without giving us a proper hearing,” Tata wrote to Nehru, Economic Times reported.

Also Read| Air India stake sale: Tata Group, SpiceJet to submit offers

“Even more than the decision itself, I was upset by the manner in which nationalisation was introduced through the back door without any prior consultation of any kind with the industry,” Tata wrote to a company executive about the nationalisation of his dream project.

“However, we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact that we are living in a political and bureaucratic age in which people like ourselves no longer count for much in the scheme of things.”

Also Read| Tata group to enter satellite broadband market in India with Telesat: Report

Nonetheless, when Nehru insisted, Tata agreed to become the chairman of the nationalised airline. Air India continued to perform successfully under him until he was fired in 1977 by then-prime minister Morarji Desai.

Also Read| Sensex declines over 500 points while Nifty drops below 17,500 in early trade

Despite using Rs 24,000 crore of a government bailout package, Air India now has a debt of about Rs 50,000 crore and has never generated profit in a decade. Tata’s are also concerned about the company’s massive debt.