Winner of Air India auction likely to be announced by Oct 15

The central government is likely to announce the winning bid for Air India by the mid-October, bringing the divestment of the national carrier to a close. The centre received multiple financial bids for the divestment of Air India on September 15. As a result, financial bids for Air India are believed to have been submitted by Tata Sons and industrialist Ajay Singh in his capacity. According to the media, while Tatas are the front-runners for the carrier, all bids will be evaluated on a variety of criteria, and the winning bidder will be announced following approval by the Group of Ministers (GoM) led by the home minister. Tuhin Kanta Pandey, DIPAM Secretary, had earlier said on Twitter that the disinvestment process has concluded. Tata Sons bid was highly anticipated, as the company's name had been circulating for some time. The government recently took several steps to expedite the national carrier's long-delayed privatisation. The centre decided to exempt assets transferred from the national carrier to Air India Assets Holding Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), from taxes. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her FY22 Budget speech that all proposed privatisation processes, including the much-delayed strategic disinvestment of Air India, would be completed by the end of the fiscal year. Previously, only a few interested parties were chosen for the bidding round, including the Tatas. This is the central government's second attempt to sell its stake in the airline. Prior to the pandemic, Air India operated over 50 domestic and international destinations on a standalone basis. Image Source Also read: Disinvestment process of Air India on right path: Jyotiraditya Scindia