After a slight delay and a round of talks, India's national carrier, Air India, has been officially handed over to the Tata Group.

Tata Group, the salt-to-steel conglomerate founded the airline in 1932 before it was taken over by the government in 1953.

Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, won the bid quoting Rs 18,000 crore, which included taking over of Rs 15,300 crore of Air India's debt and a payment of Rs 2,700 crore in cash.

The announcement of handover over came soon after Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrashekhar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital today.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said it is "indeed noteworthy" that the disinvestment process of Air India has been "brought to a successful conclusion in a time-bound manner".

The existing board of directors for the airline has resigned, making way for a new board appointed by the Tata Group.

The airline called the deal a "brand new chapter" in its history. "Two iconic names come together to embark on a voyage of excellence," it wrote on Twitter.

With India seeing passenger growth of around 20% per year and analysts saying the Indian market is vastly underserved, Air India is a good prospect for Tata Group, say experts.

Tata will retain all Air India employees; there will no dismissals for one year. If after they are to be removed, they will be offered a Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Post-retirement medical benefits of the employees will be protected.