Lot of interest for Air India stake sale: Civil aviation secretary

Mumbai: The government on Thursday said that there is a great deal of interest for disinvestment of Air India Ltd, amid the deadline for submission of preliminary bids ending this month.

The last date for submission of Expression of Interest (EoI) for the proposed 76% stake sale in debt-laden Air India is 31 May. Earlier this month, the government came out with clarifications related to the disinvestment.

“There is a great deal of interest for Air India,” civil aviation secretary R. N. Choubey said. He was speaking on the sidelines of the US-India Aviation Summit.

Choubey also said that no American carrier has expressed formal interest for Air India. The divestment would include profit-making Air India Express and joint venture AISATS, an equal joint venture between the national carrier and Singapore-based SATS Ltd.

Providing more time, the last date for submission of Expressions of Interest (EoIs) for Air India disinvestment was extended to 31 May from the earlier deadline of 14 May. The qualified bidders would now be known on 15 June, whereas the earlier date was 29 May.

Starting the disinvestment process of the debt-laden national carrier, the preliminary information memorandum for the proposed sale of up to 76% stake in Air India along with management control to private entities was issued on 28 March.

The government also made it clear that it would have the rights of a “minority shareholder” with 24% stake in Air India post disinvestment.