Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, the biggest business house in India, met aviation minister Ajit Singh at his residence here on Friday to discuss the group's proposal to start an airline with AirAsia.

While aviation ministry officials described the meeting as a "courtesy call", sources said Tata and Singh discussed the proposed low-cost airline that the group plans to launch with AirAsia and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd.

More than 17 years after it made an attempt to start a domestic airline, Tata Group is seeking to re-enter the sector.

While AirAsia will hold a 49% stake in the proposed airline, Tata's stake would be 30%. The rest 21% would be held by Bhatia. The proposal will come up before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for its approval on March 6.