The government, on Tuesday, answered 160 question from bidders interested in the disinvestment of Air India and its two subsidiaries – Air India Express and AISATS. A significant clarification was whether allowing individual bidders to bid. The government said that individuals can bid only of they are employees of Air India.
On March 28, the government had issued preliminary information memorandum for the sale of up to 76 per cent stake in Air India along with management control to private entities. Profit-making Air India Express and joint venture AISATS, an equal joint venture between the national carrier and Singapore-based SATS, will be disinvested first.
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Clarification on various aspects, including those related to slots, bilateral rights and employee rights were provided in a 19-page document. “Details of existing slots and code share agreements will be provided at RFP (Request for Proposal) stage. It is expected that there will not be any impact of disinvestment on existing slots and bilateral rights,” the document said.
Bidders were advised to assess the impact of disinvestment process on the existing code share agreement on their own. About 50 queries received the same response – details would be provided at the time of RFP stage.
As per the information memorandum, issued in March, the government would retain 24 per cent stake in the national carrier and the winning bidder would be required to stay invested in the airline for at least three years.
The last date of submission of Expression of Interest (EoI) of Air India has also been extended to May 31 from May 14 earlier and the date for announcement of qualified bidders has also been extended from May 28 to June 15, 2018.