The Union government on Friday said that it had not yet approved a financial bid for disinvestment of national carrier Air India. The clarification came after a Bloomberg report suggested that a bid placed by salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Sons to acquire the airline had been approved.
“Media reports indicating approval of financial bids by Government of India in the AI [Air India] disinvestment case are incorrect,” the Union finance ministry’s Department of Investment and Public Asset Management said in a tweet. “Media will be informed of the Government decision as and when it is taken.”
The government is seeking to sell its 100% stake in Air India.
Earlier on Friday morning, Bloomberg reported that a panel of Union ministers has accepted a proposal from government officials who had recommended the Tata Sons bid for Air India. The bid was preferred over the one placed by Ajay Singh, the chairman of private airline SpiceJet, the report said, citing unidentified sources.
On September 15, an unidentified spokesperson of Tata Sons had said that the conglomerate has submitted a bid to acquire Air India. There were reports about Singh submitting a bid as well. However, he had not confirmed the matter.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management had confirmed that it had received bids, without revealing any details or the number of entities who were in fray.
Meanwhile, a group of ministers is scheduled to meet soon to take a decision on the winning bid, The Hindu reported on Friday, citing an unidentified government official.
The panel of ministers, called the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism, is headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia are the other members of the panel.
If the Tata Sons bid turns out to be successful, it will mark the return of Air India to the conglomerate’s fold after 67 years. The Tata Group founded Air India as Tata Airlines in October 1932. It was nationalised by the government in 1953.
In March, the then Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said that Air India had accumulated a debt of Rs 60,000 crore and the choice was between disinvesting the airline or shutting it down. In April, the government asked potential bidders to put in financial bids. September 15 was the last date for submitting the bids.
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