NEW DELHI, Dec 13: India's largest multi-sector conglomerate, the Tata Group, is reported to be bidding for the debt-ridden Air India which had been put up for sale a second time. Monday 5 pm is the deadline to submit the expression of interest.

Apart from Tatas, a group of Air India employees is also rumoured to be interested in running the airline. A likely third party is SpiceJet's Ajay Singh although the report has not been confirmed.

There were no suitors when offers were invited in 2018 by the Government which had apparently decided to shed the burden of the white elephant sucking the poor Indians' blood. The PSU, like all other PSUs and Government appendages, mostly born out of a Russian 'barter' with an overexcited Jawaharlal Nehru, are today functioning just for the luxury life of their employees. At whose cost! What is surprising is why the new Government should take millennia to throw away the dead wood. Kudos to Arun Shourie for the smartness in doing those little things upon becoming a Minister once upon a time, in no time!

This time with sweetened offers multiple bidders are lining up, hopefully, to take up a burden of Rs 90,000 cr!

Earlier only 76% stake was on offer but now it's 100% on sale. Technically, now it's on enterprise value basis, the combined value of equity and debt.

Originally Air India had belonged to the Tatas who started India's first airline, Tata Airlines, in October 1932. JRD Tata's flight from Karachi to Mumbai was the start of India's aviation history. He became the pioneer of civil aviation in the country. Later renamed Air India (1946), the airlines was nationalised in 1953. It took 67 years to realise you can't do it!