Bidders trying to buy AI at lower price through pressure: Tewari

With IndiGo and now Jet Airways bowing out from the Air India disinvestment process, Congress leader Manish Tewari today saw it as an attempt by bidders to buy the national airline at a lower price through pressure.

The former information and broadcasting minister took to Twitter to state his observation and tagged an article about the airlines' decision against bidding for AI, with the tweet.

"Bidders are deliberately creating pressure to buy Air India at a lower price than even the proposed sell out. These are Standard Operating Procedures when Privatisation becomes a Sina qua non for garage sale of Public Assets," he tweeted.

Jet Airways today said it would not be participating in the Air India disinvestment process, becoming the second domestic airline after IndiGo to make such a decision in less than a week.

"We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step. However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," Jet Airways Deputy CEO & CFO Amit Agarwal told PTI in an e-mailed statement.

The ambitious strategic stake sale of loss-making Air India as well as its two subsidiaries seems to be hitting air pockets with the two potential bidders deciding to keep away citing the contours of the process.

The government had last month come out with a detailed preliminary information memorandum, detailing plans to offload up to 76 per cent stake in Air India and transfer the management control to private players.