India receives bids to buy state-owned Air India airline

India’s government says it has received “multiple expressions of interest” in buying its 100% stake in debt-laden national carrier Air India to shore up falling government revenues after an initial attempt in 2018 failed to attract any bidders. The deadline for submission of formal bids was Monday and the government is expected to announce qualified bidders on Jan. 5. It did not reveal the identity of the bidders or the number of bids received. “Multiple expressions of interest have been received for strategic disinvestment of Air India. The transaction will now move to the second stage,” Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. Indian media reports said Indian conglomerate Tata Group and a group of 219 Air India employees along with Interups, a US-based fund, filed expressions of interest. In January, the government invited initial expressions of interest in the airline, which operates both domestic and international routes and has accumulated huge losses in the past decade. It said the bidders would have to absorb 232b rupees ($3.26b) of the airline’s 580b rupee ($8b) debt burden.<br/>