New Delhi, June 1: Government has failed to get a buyer for debt ridden national air carrier Air India and will look for the other options in coming weeks.
As per the bidding documents Thursday was the last day for the Expression of Interest (EoI) from the interested private parties, but no one turned up for the same.
Reacting on the development Ministry of Civil Aviation said that it will decide the future course of action later on.
Similarly, Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) said that the failure of getting buyer will not have much impact on the fiscal deficit or on the disinvestment target of the government as no specific amount was in consideration from disinvestment of Air India’s shares.
The management control would have been with the buyer which could have gained access to more than 2,500 international slots and over 3,700 domestic slots.
Commenting on the development, Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey dismissed any extension of the deadline as it had already been extended from May 14 to May 31.
The government has been keen on selling the loss-making, debt-ridden airline and had finalised its plans in late March to divest a 76 per cent stake and offload about 5.1 billion dollar of its debt.
Earlier this month, some more terms were eased to attract buyers and the period to make bids was also extended, but there were still no takers for the airline, which flies some lucrative routes but also has one of the industry’s highest employees-per-aircraft ratios.
Govt fails to get buyer for Air India
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