Government Extends Deadline To Submit Bids For Air India Sale Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Potential bidders can submit their EoIs for Air India by April 30 instead of the previous deadline of March 17.
The central government extended the deadline to submit bids for the sale of debt-laden Air India by more than a month amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Potential bidders can submit their expressions of interest for the nation carrier by April 30 instead of the previous deadline of March 17, according to a government notification.
The government also revised the dates for release of responses to the written queries from potential bidders to March 20 from March 16, it said. The decision to revise the timelines, according to the notification, was based on the request from the interested bidders as well as due to the prevailing situation arising out of the novel Covid-19. The intimation of the qualified bidder will now be done on May 14 instead of March 31.
Last week, Aviation Minster Hardeep Singh Puri had indicated that the deadline to submit bids for Air India’s sale could be extended but had assured that the divestment process is going “really well and many entities have come forward and asked questions”.
Having failed to draw buyers for India’s most ambitious privatisation effort in 2018, the Narendra Modi administration sweetened the terms in its second attempt to sell the struggling carrier by easing eligibility criteria and allowing sale and leaseback of aircraft.
The government has put up for sale its entire stake in Air India and Air India Express Ltd. as well as 50 percent holding in Air India SATS Airport Pvt. Ltd. In 2018, it had invited bids to sell only 76 percent stake in the debt-laden airline. The cabinet also allowed non-resident Indians to buy up to a 100 percent stake in the carrier against 49 percent cap earlier. Besides, the government will allow the sale and leaseback of 82 aircraft owned by Air India and Air India Express.