THE RETURN JOURNEY

he privatisation of Air India, though much delayed, should come as a big relief to the Modi government, which has faced much flak for its apparent inability to come good on its promise to get out of business and focus on governance. Even though the Tatas’ bid of Rs 18,000 crore was not exactly a king’s ransom—the government gets to keep only Rs 2,700 crore; the remaining Rs 15,300 crore is debt the Tatas have taken on—the Tatas’ bid was nearly 40 per cent higher than