The government has initiated the process for inviting financial bids for the sale of national carrier Air India and the deal is likely to conclude by September, sources said.
Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group was among the “multiple” entities that had put in preliminary bids for buying loss-making Air India in December last year.
The sources said that after analysing the preliminary bids, eligible bidders were given access to the Virtual Data Room (VDR) of Air India, following which investors’ queries were answered.
The transaction has now moved to the financial bids stage, the sources said, adding that the deal is expected to conclude by September.
The government is selling its entire 100% stake in Air India that has been in losses ever since its merger with domestic operator Indian Airlines in 2007.
The stake sale process got delayed due to the COVID pandemic and the government had extended five times the deadline to submit preliminary bids for the national carrier.
Surjitt Sahani
