Govt sweetens Air India sale offer, to exit 100%

After a failed attempt in 2018, the government on Monday invited bids for privatising state-owned carrier Air India, a second effort in less than two years for stake sale in the debt-laden airline. Learning its lesson from the 2018 failure, the preliminary information memorandum states that 100% stake will be offloaded unlike 76% offered in the previous attempt. However, the new owners would be required to continue to use the “Air India” brand name and this cannot be changed.

The government has also retained a provision that substantial ownership and effective control of the airline must remain with an Indian entity.