Government extends last date for receiving EoI in disinvestment case of Air India till October 30

The government today extended the last date for receiving Expression of Interest (EOI) in the disinvestment case of Air India by two months to October 30, 2020.

Issuing a corrigendum to the Expression of Interest (EoI) for sale of Air India, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management said the decision has been taken due to requests it received from the interested bidders and the prevailing situation arising out of COVID-19.

This is the fourth time that the dates for the national carrier's disinvestment process, which began on January 27, 2020, have been pushed.

While issuing the EoI in January, the last date for bids was kept at March 17, which was later extended to April 30. This was further extended till June 30, and again till August 31.

The DIPAM in the corrigendum posted on its website said, the date for intimation to qualified interested bidders (QIB) has been extended by over two months till November 20, 2020. It added, any further changes with respect to the Important Dates, if any, will be communicated to the Interested Bidders subsequently.

The government restarted the divestment process of Air India in January 2020 after it failed to garner any successful bid to sell in 2018 when it offered to sell its 76 per cent equity in the airline. This year, it restarted the process and invited bids for selling 100 per cent of its equity in the state-owned airline and it also includes Air India's 100 per cent shareholding in AI Express Ltd and 50 per cent in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Ltd.

For current fiscal, the budget has pegged disinvestment proceeds at Rs 2.10 lakh crore. This divestment plan includes Rs 1.20 lakh crore from CPSE share sale and Rs 90,000 crore from a share sale in public sector banks and financial institutions, including the listing of insurance behemoth LIC.