Rescue operation after an Air India plane crashed near Ahmedabad airport.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: In a bid to help out the families of the victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash involving Air India’s state-of-the-art Dreamliner aircraft, the Tata Group has formed a public trust with a corpus of Rs 500 crore.
On 12 June, 2025, the Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed shortly after take off killing 260 people including 241 on board. There was only one survivor among the passengers.
The announcement was made by Tata Sons, the flagship company of the salt-to-software conglomerate.
The AI-171 Memorial and Welfare Trust, as it would be formally known, has been registered in Mumbai as a public charitable trust.
Tata Sons and Tata Trusts have together pledged to contribute Rs. 500 crores - with both committing Rs 250 crores each - for the Trust’s philanthropic objects, which will include ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 crore for those deceased, medical treatment of those who suffered serious injuries, and support for rebuilding the B.J. Medical College Hostel infrastructure which was damaged in the accident.
The Trust will be managed and administered by a 5-member Board of Trustees. The initial two trustees appointed to the Board are S. Padmanabhan, a former Tata veteran and Sidharth Sharma, Tata Sons’ General Counsel.
Additional trustees will be appointed shortly.
“The Trust will be funded and will commence its work in all earnestness after necessary registration with the Tax authorities and other operational formalities, currently underway, are completed,” a Tata Sons spokesperson said on Friday.
The Trust will provide both immediate and continuing support to the dependents/next-of-kin of the deceased, to those who were injured, and to all others who are directly or collaterally affected by the accident.
“The Trust will also provide aid and assistance for alleviation of any trauma or distress suffered by the first responders, medical and disaster relief professionals, social workers and governmental staff who provided invaluable institutional support and service in the aftermath of the accident,” the spokesperson said.