Air India is close to securing ₹100 billion ($1.1 billion) in financial aid from its owners Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, according to people familiar with the matter. As reported by Moneycontrol, the money is conditional on reaching certain performance milestones and will be paid out in installments. The support would be proportional to shareholding, with Tata Sons owning 74.9% of Air India and Singapore Airlines holding the remainder. This represents a significant development from the earlier reported ₹10,000 crore approval, with the funding amount now reaching closer to the airline's actual requirements.
Tata Sons' board has approved a fresh capital infusion of over ₹10,000 crore into Air India, marking one of its largest commitments to the airline since the ₹18,000-crore acquisition in 2021. According to reports from The Times of India, the decision was taken at a June board meeting chaired by N Chandrasekaran and attended by Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and vice-chairman Venu Srinivasan. However, the approval comes with conditions requiring Air India and other investee companies to present a business case when funding is sought. The infusion follows a difficult stretch for Air India, coming more than a year after Tata Sons paused equity injections into the carrier, whose losses more than doubled to ₹22,238 crore in FY26.
According to Reuters reports, Air India is seeking approximately $1.5 billion in fresh equity from its owners Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, with the airline wanting the funds immediately though the infusion is likely to happen in tranches. Singapore Airlines, which owns around 25 percent of Air India, would need to contribute its share of the proposed infusion for the investment to go through. The carrier and its budget unit Air India Express posted combined losses of $2.33 billion in the fiscal year ended March, more than double the prior year's losses. The losses have also weighed on Singapore Airlines' profits, highlighting the challenges facing the airline as it undergoes a multi-billion-dollar revamp including fleet refurbishment.
Air India is coming off a difficult period marked by the deadly crash of a Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner, the closing of Pakistani airspace to Indian carriers, and the Middle East conflict that's disrupted travel and driven up fuel costs. As reported by Moneycontrol, the fallout from the 787 Dreamliner accident took months to contain, draining management bandwidth, adding to costs and dealing a blow to the airline's public image. Noel Tata, the chairman of Tata Trusts that controls Tata Sons, has raised concerns over the losses at Air India in several board meetings, with the losses among the key issues behind a reported rift between Noel Tata and Chandrasekaran. However, Tata Sons and Temasek, Singapore Airlines' majority owner, have separately announced that they will continue backing the airline despite the challenges.
