Govt likely to sell 100% stake in Air India to attract bidders

The govt may offload 100% equity share of Air India in an attempt to woo potential bidders. Last year, the civil aviation ministry had suffered a huge setback when not a single bidder submitted Expressions of Interest for the ailing carrier. The govt has approached big businesses all over again to evaluate their interest in the carrier and persuade them to bid once the divestment process takes off, Business Standard reported, citing people aware of the development. The civil aviation ministry and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management have already started the process. The report further mentioned that Civil Aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola has asked Air India to finalise the financial accounts of the carrier and its subsidiaries for 2018-19 by the end of June. <br/>