New Delhi, March 2
Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, met Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Saturday, days after Malaysian carrier Air Asia's Tony Fernandes announced it had sought government's nod to launch a new airline under a joint venture with Tata Sons and an Indian investor.

Though there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting this afternoon, it is understood that the plans for the launch of the airline came up during the discussions. It became apparent that the new budget airline may run into several regulatory hurdles before it sees the light of the day.

The meeting came days after the Malaysian budget carrier's CEO Tony Fernandes said the new airline may take to the sky by this year-end with 3-4 Airbus A-320 and his company would make an initial investment of between US $30-50 million.

Besides AirAsia Investment and Tata Sons, the other investor in the joint venture is Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace.

An application has already been moved by Air Asia's investment arm, AirAsia Investment Ltd before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to seek approval for acquiring 49% equity in the airline company.

Of the remaining stake, Tata Sons is likely to pick up 30 per cent and one of Bhatia's companies, Hindustan Aerosystems, 21 per cent.

After the FIPB approval, the joint venture company would make an application to the aviation regulator DGCA for the Air Operators Permit to carry out flying operations.

Fernandes recently said the new airline would be based in Chennai and in the initial phase concentrate on destinations in south India where Air Asia already operates. It would also focus on providing connectivity to tier II and III cities. Asked by when the new airline would start operations, Fernandes had said "it’s in the hands of the Indian regulator ... but most likely it’ll start by Q4" of this year or the winter season. — PTI

Mumbai/London, march 2
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is investigating the potential of manufacturing cars in India, company sources said, as the British luxury carmaker looks to build on its growth in emerging markets with the help of Indian parent Tata Motors.

JLR, which has ridden a wave of surging demand in China and other emerging markets to post record profits over the past year, is "actively exploring the possibility" of building cars from scratch in India, said one company source.

"The idea is being looked into, with the (Jaguar) XF and (Land Rover) Freelander the obvious candidates," said another source with knowledge of the matter.

The British brands, which already assemble two models in India using parts and engines shipped from factories in the UK, will also begin assembling its popular Range Rover Evoque in the country soon, the first source said without providing details.

Building cars in India, which has developed into an emerging market export hub for many global carmakers, would allow JLR to skirt high import taxes on luxury cars, which Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposed raising to 100 percent from 75 percent in his budget speech last week.

"Jaguar Land Rover has ambitious plans to expand its manufacturing footprint and increase production in markets outside Britain," Del Sehmar, a Mumbai-based spokesman for the company, told Reuters. "We continue to examine options to expand our range of locally assembled products," he said, referring to India.

JLR will exhibit a new 9-speed automatic Evoque and an electric-powered version of its Land Rover Defender at the Geneva Motor Show next week.

INVESTMENT DRIVE: Bought by Tata for $2.3 billion from Ford in 2008, JLR has defied those sceptical of its future under Indian ownership to roar back into profit over the past three years as the main growth driver for its now-struggling parent.

Continued growth in emerging markets such as India and China, which accounted for 22.3 per cent of its sales in the December quarter, is key for JLR as it embarks on an expensive overhaul of its production and product clout. The carmaker is investing $1.7 billion with local partner Chery Automobile Co in a factory in China.

JLR lags rivals BMW AG , Volkswagen AG's (Audi) and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz in assembling cars in India. — Reuters

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