No bidder for Air India a day before deadline

New Delhi: No Expressions of Interest (EoI) have been received so far for national carrier Air India, a day before the EoI deadline ends, a senior civil aviation ministry official reportedly told TV channels on Wednesday. However, there seems to be hope in official circles that some bids may be received at the last-minute before the deadline ends on Thursday evening.

It may be recalled that the Government had earlier extended the Expression of Interest (EoI) submission deadline from May 14 to May 31 this month while the deadline for intimation to Qualified Interested Bidders was extended from May 28 to June 15 this year. Private firm Ernst and Young has been appointed the “Transaction Adviser” (TA) for the process.

Further, as reported earlier, national carrier Air India may not be sold after all if the Government finds the bid price to be inadequate. Union Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey had earlier told reporters, “The Government retains the right to sell or not to sell (stake in Air India) if the bid price is found to be inadequate.”

According to the procedure, the floor price (base price for the airline) is decided by the Transaction Advisor but the Government is apprised of it once the financial bids are opened in the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The government, as the owner of Air India, has the right to modify the floor price. If the Government finds that the bid price is lower than the floor price, it could give rise to a situation wherein the Government may not sell the national carrier since it would then be a loss-incurring move. The Union government had a few weeks ago issued the “Preliminary Information Memorandum” for “inviting the EoI for Strategic Disinvestment” of loss-making national carrier Air India.