New Delhi (NVI): The government today announced the sale of the entire stake in debt-laden Air India and issued a preliminary bid document for the strategic disinvestment. March 17 has been set as the deadline for submitting bids.
The qualified bidders will be notified 31 March, according to the bid document issued by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.
As per the bid document issued today, Air India would also sell 100 per cent stake in low-cost airline Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in joint venture AISATS, as part of the strategic disinvestment.
AISATS is a joint venture partnership between Air India and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) Limited, which provides ground and cargo handling services.
The bid document has been issued by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.
The development comes after an initial attempt to sell a majority stake in the airline failed to draw a single bid in 2018.
The airline is sitting on a debt pile of around Rs 58,000 crore, besides huge accumulated losses running into thousands of crores.
In the current offer, the government is offering 100 per cent and has already reduced the debt liabilities of the airline.
