Hats off, NG

Jet's ousted chairman has successfully transferred the headache of reviving his airline to SBI and the government

Even as Naresh Goyal, the recently ousted chairman of Jet Airways, opens his bottle of wine at his home in London, he must look back on the last 25 years with great satisfaction.

Let me explain why. In 1994, Jet Airways was owned 60 per cent by Goyal, 20 per cent each was held by Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways. Government policy at the time permitted investment in domestic airlines by a foreign carrier and Goyal took full advantage of it.

In 1996, the Tata group wanted to set up a new domestic airline with Singapore Airlines (SIA) in a joint holding.