Air India is likely to be handed over to the Tata Group by this weekend, according to senior government officials on Monday.

The government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata group’s holding company for ₹18,000 crore after a competitive bidding process.

After that on October 11, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was issued to the Tata group by the government to confirm it’s willingness to sell 100 percent stake in the airline. The Centre then signed the share purchase agreement (SPA) for this deal on October 25.

The remaining formalities regarding this deal are expected to be completed in the upcoming days and the airline will be handed over to Tata group by then, officials said today.

Tata group will also receive Air India Express and 50 percent stake in ground handling arm Air India SATS as a part of the deal.

Noatably, Tata group beat the ₹15,000 crore offers by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and reserve price of ₹12,906 crore set by the government of the sale of the loss-making carrier.

Air India will be the third airline brand under Tatas after Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd. and AirAsia, in which it holds a majority interest.