Why does Tata Group want Air India back?

J.R.D. TATA recalled it as his saddest day. In 1978 the illustrious Indian industrialist opened the newspaper to discover that the government had fired him as chairman of Air India, the airline he founded in 1932 and managed even after its nationalisation in 1953. He called his secretary to ask if the story of his sacking was true. She replied that his successor, a former air marshal, was already making himself comfortable in his chair.Tata, who died in 1993, frequently said that his job at Air India was to protect the airline from the central government in Delhi. No doubt the sentiment contributed to his sacking—and was justified. After his exit the flag-carrier entered a spiral. In recent years it was losing nearly $3m a day. Operating costs far exceed the industry average. So do customer complaints. Perhaps realising this, the government began trying to offload Air India in 2001, but deals repeatedly foundered over financial terms and demands that the state retain a residual stake, and possibly residual control.