Tata Group will “look at” the possibility investing in Air India when the expression of interest (EoI) for the national carrier's divestment is out, chairman N Chandrasekaran has said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

The Union government has been trying to privatise the loss-making national carrier for some time but the EoI that the Narendra Modi government floated last year for a 76 percent stake in the company failed to find any takers. In a fresh attempt at divestment, the government is expected to take Air India's massive debt off the table in a bid to sweeten the deal for potential buyers.

The EoI for Air India divestment is expected to be released by the end of November.

Chandrasekaran said that Tata Group will explore the possibilities once the terms and conditions are out. “Let the EoI come, let the terms come and then we will see it,” he said.

Chandrasekaran, whose association with Tata Group stretches over three decades, said that he has not had any discussions with the government about Air India. "No, I have not had any conversation," he said when asked if the government has sought any feedback on the matter.

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He added that Tata Group continues to look at opportunities wherever they may be but any decision to take a plunge in Air India will depend upon the value the deal will bring to the conglomerate.

"Any opportunity at a group level, we have to look at it. Every opportunity that comes, we look at it, some we will give it a pass. We had a lot of opportunities in steel and we picked one. In power, there are lots of opportunities came and we picked one or two. So, we will keep looking at every opportunity that comes definitely. As long as it can add value to our airline portfolio, then we will take a look," he said.

Tata Group runs two airline businesses in partnership. AirAsia India is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Tony Fernandes-led AirAsia, while Vistara is jointly-operated by Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

Chandrasekaran said that being already in the aviation business has both advantages as well as disadvantages and any decision on Air India will be based on a slew of factors and analysis.

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"It is not about Vistara or AirAsia. I think you should look at it as for whatever reason we have got companies, but eventually, we will have to see what those companies think. We need to have a discussion because does it add, what does it add and what are the pain points. We have to take a calculated call. It is not just an easy call to say that we will do it or we will not do it.

"It is easy to say we do not want to do it because we have two airlines. It is also equal to say that you will get a lot of routes and a lot of slots, you can scale immediately. So, topline level there is an argument to say yes or no, but none of these decisions are taken with one line. Essentially, in my opinion, if we have a business, whatever be the business that we operate, all those businesses have to get efficient, have to get scaled, have to create value and we have got to look at that."

Read the full N Chandrasekaran interview here.

First Published:Nov 4, 2019 10:43 AM IST