The government has not received any bids so far for its stake in state-run carrier Air India, the civil aviation secretary told TV channels, a day before the formal bidding process closes.
The government will not extend the deadline for submissions of interest in Air India, R.N. Choubey said on Wednesday. The deadline for receiving bids has already been extended once to May 31 from May 14.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, 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.
Government had earlier extended the deadline to May 31 from May 14.
Air India’s total debt was Rs 48,781crore at the end of March 2017.
IndiGo and an unnamed international carrier had officially expressed interest in bidding for Air India. Jet Airways and Tata Group’s names also cropped up as potential bidders.
But the government’s stipulation that the winning bidder cannot merge the airline with existing businesses as long as the government holds a stake had kept many bidders at bay.
