The government is planning to liberalise the terms and conditions for the sale of state-owned carrier Air India. The changes would allow a potential buyer to go for a stake sale of the airline immediately after acquiring it. The revised norms would also enable merger or reverse merger of Air India with any existing business of the buyer.
At least 95 per cent stake of Air India will be up for sale while retaining 5 per cent for the employee stock option (ESOP).
This is the first time the government will relax rules for strategic disinvestment, meant to prevent asset stripping. The rules were framed to safeguard the government following the disinvestment of Centaur Hotel, Mumbai, where the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had pointed out irregularities in the sale process.
