Air India sale: India discusses with nine companies, including IndiGo, Tata Sons and IAG

Indian officials met with as many as nine companies during roadshows to gauge interest in a stake sale in the nation’s loss-making flag carrier, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Officials from the South Asian nation met executives of companies including British Airways parent IAG SA, IndiGo, India’s biggest airline that’s operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., SpiceJet Ltd. as well as Tata Sons Ltd., the people said asking not to be identified discussing preliminary meetings.

A successful sale of Air India Ltd. after a failed attempt in 2018 is crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help bridge a widening fiscal deficit exacerbated by dismal tax collections and a $20 billion corporate tax cut. Air India, which started as Tata Airlines in 1932 and later acquired by the government, hasn’t made money since 2007.