Tatas to pay ₹1 crore each to 33 ground victims of Air India crash, pledge full medical aid for injured

As the death toll from the Air India Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad climbs to 274, the Tata Group has announced that families of all 33 people killed on the ground will receive the same ₹1 crore compensation as those who died on board.

The group, which owns Air India, has also committed to covering the full medical expenses of those injured in the devastating crash, which ripped through the Meghaninagar area and severely damaged parts of BJ Medical College, including a student hostel.

The victims on the ground included medical students, hospital staff, doctors, and local residents—many of whom were going about their daily lives when Flight AI-171 plummeted into the neighborhood after what investigators believe was a catastrophic systems failure during landing.

Of the 274 confirmed fatalities, 241 were passengers and crew members. One passenger miraculously survived. The remaining 33 were on the ground, many of them believed to be in and around the BJ Medical College campus when the aircraft exploded on impact.

The Tata Group has also pledged support for reconstructing the BJ Medical hostel, which was badly damaged in the inferno.

Asked whether the conglomerate plans to extend additional support—such as employment for the victims’ families—a company official said, “Nothing has been decided yet. The situation is still being assessed, and the investigation has only just begun.”

In addition to the ₹1 crore from Tatas, the families of passengers who died in the crash are also entitled to insurance payouts amounting to nearly ₹1.5 crore, officials said. Air India is covered by a consortium of insurers led by Tata AIG General Insurance, along with ICICI Lombard, New India Assurance, and other public sector insurers. Reinsurance responsibilities will fall primarily to AIG.

The aviation ministry has launched a high-level investigation into what is now India’s deadliest air disaster in a decade.