Mumbai: The dealine for buying the Air India ends today and the government did not find any buyers yet. Modi government till Wednesday afternoon did not receive any bidding for the national carrier and deadline for the same would end at 5:00 PM today. Aviation secretary R N Choubey on Wednesday said that the deadline for submitting the bidding for Air India will not be extended. Earlier, the original deadline for Air India was of May 14 which further extended to May 31.
The Central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, keen to sell the loss-making, debt-ridden airline, finalised plans in late March to divest a 76 percent stake and offload about $5.1 billion of its debt. After the terms were disclosed, no company has come forward to say it is interested or to reaffirm previous interest, while Jet Airways and rival IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, have already publicly opted out of the race.
Earlier, the Jet Airways management had held discussions with its alliance partners Air France-KLM, Delta, and other investors to put up a proposal and then the airline decided to call off its efforts. Jet Airways’ decision came just four days after IndiGo airlines decided to step back from the process, making the Air India’s disinvestment process difficult.
Before that, budget carrier IndiGo, which had initially evinced interest in acquiring Air India’s international operations, said it was not in fray to bid for the national carrier as such option was not available under the disinvestment plan.
“From day one, IndiGo has expressed its interest primarily in the acquisition of Air India’s international operation and Air India Express. However, that option is not available under the government’s current disinvestment plan for Air India. Also, as we have communicated before, we do not believe we have the capability to take on the task of acquiring and successfully turning around all of Air India’s airline operations,” former president and whole time director of IndiGo Aditya Ghosh earlier said.
The government in one of its conditions has said that the winning bidder cannot merge the airline with existing businesses as long as the government holds a stake. The winner might also be required to list Air India and would need to abide by conditions designed to safeguard employee interests, restricting its ability to cut staff. .IndiGo, a market leader in the Indian skies with close to 40 per cent share, was one of the first players to show interest in the ailing airline soon after the government gave its in-principal approval last June for the disinvestment of the national career.The civil aviation ministry had earlier made public 160 queries it had received from interested bidders seeking clarity on the initial terms. The queries were mainly about the impact of the government’s decision to hold a 24 percent stake, the make