English
Mumbai, Jul 24: Narendra Modi government’s bid to privatise the loss making Air India received further boost with two more companies showing interest in the beleaguered airline. Overseas Private equity firms KKR and Warbug Pincus have reportedly shown interest in the Air India disinvestment process and have asked for details on the process.
IndiGo was the first domestic air carrier which showed interest in Air India soon after government announced its decision in June. IndiGo was more keen on buying the international services and low cost services of Air India. There were reports that Tata Group was also interested in Air India disinvestment and have informally asked for documents to study what was on offer. However, there was no official confirmation on this, a report in financial daily Mint on Monday said. ALSO READ: AI employees stage protest against privatisation
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley headed sub-committee of ministers in their first meeting on July 21 discussed the sale of Air India assets. More overseas firms are likely to come up with proposals in the coming days on Air India disinvestment, the Mint report said. There were reports in a section of the media that Air India was planning to offer Voluntary Retirement Service option to over 20,000 Air India employees as part of the re-structuring. However, Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani denied any such plan.
With a debt burden of over Rs 52,000 crore, Air India has 17 per cent of international air traffic from India and 13 per cent of domestic traffic.
For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Business News on India.com.
