Coronavirus: Govt extends deadline to bid for Air India till Apr 30

The government on Friday extended the deadline for submitting bids to buy state-run Air India by about one-and-a-half months till April 30, citing demand from interested bidders (IBs) and situation arising out of coronavirus.

The government had on January 27 issued preliminary information memorandum (PIM) inviting EoI for sale of 100 per cent stake in Air India. The deadline for submitting bids was March 17.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) in a notice also extended the deadline for release of queries on PIM till March 20 from March 16 earlier.

Besides, qualified interested bidders will be intimated by May 14, the deadline for which was March 31 earlier.

"The above changes are in view of the requests received from the IBs and the prevailing situation arising out of COVID-19," DIPAM said.

Home Minister Amit Shah-led ministerial panel on Air India decided on extending the deadline for submission of expression of interest (EoI) by interested bidders till April 30.

In January, the government restarted the divestment process of Air India and invited bids for selling 100 per cent of its equity in the state-owned airline, including Air India's 100 per cent shareholding in AI Express Ltd and 50 per cent in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Ltd.

On February 21, it issued the first set of clarification answering queries regarding the 'confidentiality undertaking'.

The government had allowed access to "virtual data room" of Air India to interested bidders late in February and allowed them further time till March 6 to pose queries.

Interested bidders for Air India should have a net worth of Rs 3,500 crore.

After its unsuccessful bid to sell Air India in 2018, the government this time decided to offload its entire stake. In 2018, the government had offered to sell its 76 per cent stake in the airline.

Of the airline's total debt of Rs 60,074 crore as of March 31, 2019, the buyer would be required to absorb Rs 23,286.5 crore, while the rest would be transferred to Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL), a special purpose vehicle.