Nagpur: The race to acquire the national airlines stake continues with Tata Sons and Spicejet promoters Ajay Singh. Both the giants have placed their final bids to take over 100 per cent of the stocks of Air India.
The stake sales include Air India’s 100 per cent shareholding in AI express ltd and 50 per cent in Air India SATS airport services private ltd. The central government has initiated a process of financial bids for Air India as the Union Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the process date is fixed to September 15 and will not change.
The government is expected to complete the sale of the national carrier with at least two buyers expected to submit their final bids by September 15. The government in 2018 failed to find any buyer for 76 per cent stake in the airlines.
Tata group has confirmed that it has put in its bid. Other sources confirm that Ajay Singh, too, has participated in the bid.
“The Tata Group, through its holding company and SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh, is likely to make its financial bid for the airline in his personal capacity,” an industry source recently told ANI.
The Air India and Air India express together have over 141 aircrafts and are one of the largest operators on international routes from India. The airline has high debt and losses amounting to over Rs 70,000 crore which is now impacting its performance.
