Air India Privatisation
Air India disinvestment: Minimum reserve price decided, successful bidder likely finalised
New Delhi/IBNS: The government has decided on the minimum reserve price for national carrier Air India as it moves forward to end the disinvestment process by the end of the ongoing fiscal year, media reports said.
A Hindustan Times report citing a person aware of the developments said that senior government officials met representatives of the Tata Group and SpiceJet's Ajay Singh, the two bidders for Air India, in order to evaluate the financial bids.
SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh has bid for Air India in his personal capacity, according to media reports.
The government may soon announce the name of the successful bidder but there is no clarity on the date of announcement, the media reports said.
Economic Times reported that presentations were made on the valuation of the national flag carrier on Tuesday and the committee of secretaries (CoS) took a call on reserve price of the airline but no details have been revealed.
"The winner has most likely been identified and a decision on the announcement is to be taken by the government," the ET report quoted one of the sources as saying.
The ET report said that Tata Group is the likely winner as it placed a higher bid for the national carrier.
"The high bid is made keeping in mind the national asset," an executive was quoted as saying.
Over 200 Tata officials including merger specialists from Vistara, AirAsia India, Tata Steel, and Indian Hotels are believed to be working on the process, apart from a team of Tata Sons Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), the report further said.
The Tata Group may have also asked for a sovereign guarantee to safeguard against any pre-acquisition claim that Air India faces as indemnity in favour of the buyer may be limited with respect to time and value, the report informed.
The deal includes 100% stake in Air India, Air India Express and 50% in Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd. Air India’s sale is a mainstay of Centre's disinvestment plan and is being overseen by Amit Shah-led committee.
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