Air India Stake Sale

That such a deal can be greeted with celebration in the camps of both buyer and seller speaks volumes about the airline and its recent history, writes T N Ninan

A lower bid amount may not halt the disinvestment process

The FDI policy earlier permitted NRIs to take only 49 per cent stake in the airline

In January, the government restarted the divestment process of the carrier and invited bids for selling its 100 per cent stake in both Air India and Air India Express

Prospective buyers can now sell off the airline after a year, require reduced net worth to be eligible and don't need to have shown profits in the past to be eligible for bidding

Ashwani Lohani said Air India does not have 'excess staff' and the retiring employees' medical benefits issue is being sorted out

There are around a dozen recognised trade unions at Air India

Roadshows were recently held in Singapore and London to gauge investor interest for the debt-laden national carrier

They have written a strongly-worded letter to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri regarding their dues

The official also said the government is trying to work out some formula to further make the deal more sweeter

The impact of exchange rate variation led to an increase in expenses from Rs 31 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 772 crore in 2018-19

Earlier in August this year, the Civil Aviation Minister had said that the government is determined to privatise Air India and people are interested in buying it

On being asked about state funding for Air India, Puri said that governments has its own limits

Air India disinvestment: Making forward movement, seeking potential investors: Puri

The national carrier has a debt of Rs 57,000 crore and the bids will be invited for 100 per cent stake

Significant interest among large companies to acquire the airline

Dipam, civil aviation ministry, EY, AI officials to conduct roadshows

Officials aware of the deliberations in a meeting of AISAM on Thursday said the agenda was to seek a formal political approval for the re-initiation of the privatisation process

The government will also likely invite preliminary bids for the carrier by October 10

This will be the government's third attempt to sell the debt-laden national airline