NEW DELHI: The government will soon invite bids to sell its entire stake in Air India, after potential buyers baulked at an initial attempt to divest a partial stake in the national carrier.
“The expression of interest document for Air India will be put out anytime now, at least before the end of this month. The plan is to sell 100% stake in the airline. The proposal needs clearance from a ministerial panel before it is made public,” a finance ministry official said.
A sale of Air India is key for the Union government to meet its ambitious disinvestment target of ₹1.05 trillion for the year to 31 March. Meeting the target is crucial this year as the government estimates that its corporate tax rate cut will lead to a revenue loss of 1.45 trillion.
Debt-laden Air India has been surviving on a 30,000-crore government bailout and has ceded market share to private airlines such as IndiGo and SpiceJet.
Air India’s net debt swelled from 55,000 crore at the end of March 2018 to 58,351.93 crore at the end of March 2019
The ministerial panel to divest Air India, headed by home minister Amit Shah, met for the first time on 19 September to explore all options. The panel also includes finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri, and railway and trade minister Piyush Goyal. The panel is likely to meet soon to formally clear the privatization process of Air India.
The first attempt at selling a stake in the flag carrier in March 2018 failed to take off as investors were uncomfortable with the government retaining a 24% stake in the airline.
Presently, full foreign ownership is allowed in an Indian airline, although foreign airlines cannot own more than 49% stake in a local carrier.
