Air India ownership transfer to Tata Group delayed over international regulators' nod, balance sheet finalisation: Report

"A number of conditions that are required for the transfer of the airline company have been fulfilled and some of them are pending... The process to get those approvals is on and the transfer should happen before the end of next month (January 2022)," Department of Investment and Public Asset Management secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said.

The deal has been already approved by ant-trust regulator the Competition Commission of India (CCI), according to officials.

Since Air India is an international carrier, the deal also needs approval from global regulators, the report said, citing an official.

"Many of them are in the final stages and expectations are that they should come soon," the official said, according to the report.

The work is in progress to finalise Air India's balance sheet by the middle of January, said the person who requested not to be identified.

The handover was to be done by December end as per the Letter of Intent (LoI) issued to Tata Group confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 percent stake in the airline on October 11, stated the ET report.

Tata Group has hired leading professional services firm Deloitte to help with Air India integration, people aware of the development said, the report added.