Air India For Sale Again, Two Stage Bidding, 100 Per Cent Equity Stake. EoI By July First Week

Government of India’s decision to offload 100 per cent stake in Air India is picking up momentum. The two-stage bidding process for the national carrier is expected to commence by 7 July.The Modi government is inviting expression of interest (EoI) through the preliminary information memorandum (PIM), reports Economic Times.

Speaking on the process, a senior official close to the development said, “Besides offering 100 per cent stake to private investors, more loans of the airline would be transferred to the special purpose vehicle (SPV) in order to further sweeten the deal.”

This is the second attempt by the government to sell its ailing national air carrier, it tried to offload 74 per cent of its stake in a process initiated last year but the attempt failed as no private investor turned up for the offer. This time with the return of NDA government the sale of Air India is almost on the cards.

Air India Chief Ashwani Lohani has thus been directed by the Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Kharola to finalise the financials of the airlines and its subsidiaries by the end of this month.

Air India has a total debt Rs 54,000 crore where Rs 29,000 will be transferred to the SPV Air India Asset Holding (AIAHL).