Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said Air India along with Air India Express is a “great asset”, as the government came out with preliminary bid document for disinvestment of the national carrier. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation said the successful bidder would continue to use Air India brand. The government on Monday announced sale of 100 per cent stake in debt-laden Air India as it issued the preliminary bid document for the strategic disinvestment and has set March 17, as the deadline for submitting expression of interest. As part of the strategic disinvestment, Air India would also sell 100 per cent stake in low-cost airline Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in joint venture AISATS, as per bid document issued on Monday. Management control of the airline would also be transferred to the successful bidder. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation further said the lessons have been learnt from 2018 with regard to Air India stake sale. In 2018, the government proposed to offload 76 per cent equity share capital of the national carrier as well as transfer the management control to private players. However, there were no bidders.
