Financial bids for Air India likely to be received by September 15: Minister

Financial bids for Air India are likely to be received from qualified interested bidders (QIBs) by September 15 this year, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Thursday.

The Centre had invited Expression of Interests (EoIs) for Air India on January 27, 2020. The last date of submission -- after multiple extensions due to COVID-19 pandemic -- of EoIs was December 14, 2020.

"Multiple EoIs were received by Transaction Advisor. The EoIs were evaluated by the Transaction Advisor for selection of QIBs. Request for Proposal (RFP) along with draft Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) have been shared with QIBs by the Transaction Advisor on March 30, 2021, for submission of financial bids," Singh stated.

"The financial bids are likely to be received by September 15, 2021," he added in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Of the airline's total debt of Rs 60,074 crore as of March 31, 2019, the buyer would be required to absorb Rs 23,286.5 crore, while the rest would be transferred to Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL), a special purpose vehicle, stated the EoI floated in January 2020.

Singh told Lok Sabha on Thursday: "Monetization proceeds of non-core assets of Air India are to be used to offset the debt of Air India transferred to AIAHL."

Currently, Air India has been trying to sell a couple of its properties to reduce its debt.

The reserve prices of Air India's properties were fixed by the airline's Oversight Committee as the highest value received from three valuers, the minister stated.