Privatisation / Govt announces 100% privatisation of Air India, says option was this or closing down

New Delhi: The Indian government is close to inviting financial bids for the loss-making flag carrier, Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said while addressing a media event on Friday. He added that the process of disinvestment was likely to be completed by May or June.

A Bloomberg report quoted Puri further as saying: “It’s a question of taking the decision and handing over the airline.” However, he didn’t offer any details of the bidders that made the initial shortlist.

As per reports, Tata Group and SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh have been shortlisted to bid for the airline. Puri said during the conclave that the government lost Rs 20 crore daily on the carrier.

On its official Twitter handle, a news agency quoted Puri as saying that the choice before the government was to either privatise or close the airline down.

“We've decided that Air India will be 100% disinvested. Choice isn't b/w disinvestment & non-disinvestment, it's b/w disinvestment & closing down. Air India is a first-rate asset but has an accumulated debt of Rs 60,000 Cr. We need to draw the slate clean.  (sic),” read the tweet.

The Central government has previously failed to sell the enterprise that has been rescued multiple times in the past decade and has been running on taxpayers’ money. The national carrier has been up for sale since 2017.

Air India, on its part, has set up teams to facilitate bidders to evaluate different aspects of the airline, people in the know of the matter said. Earlier, a group of employees had partnered with a Seychelles-based fund to bid for the airline. But earlier this month, they were ruled out of a bidding process.

On March 8, the bid to take over the airline by a consortium of its employees, led by the airline’s Director (Commercial) Meenakshi Mallik, came to a naught after they failed to make it to the next round of the divestment process.