Air India Disinvestment: Privatisation Likely to Draw 'Strong Interest' From Bidders, Says CAPA

New Delhi, July 31: Debt-laden state-run carrier Air India's privatisation is expected to garner strong interest in the coming days from leading global carriers, opined aviation consultancy firm CAPA India on Wednesday. The firm stated that government's latest move to divest its stake in national carrier Air India Ltd. could potentially tie-up with large Indian conglomerates to bid for the airline.

Releasing a report, Divestment of Air India: Revisiting Key Success Factors, the aviation consulting firm said, as quoted by Live Mint, "Interest is likely to be strong this time around. CAPA does not rule out the possibility of some leading global carriers – including those from the Gulf – participating in the tender, in a JV (joint venture) with large Indian conglomerates." Air India Crisis Deepens, Modi Government Mulls Privatisation For Debt-Ridden Airline

It added that the outlook for the performance of Indian carriers remains positive. In its report, CAPA said, "The current global and national economic environment, and geopolitical instability may have some impact on investor sentiment. However, the outlook for the performance of Indian carriers remains positive, especially in light of the suspension of Jet’s operations and the recent softening of oil prices."

It is to be known that earlier the Central government failed to sell a 76 per cent stake in loss-making Air India due to a lack of interest from bidders, but on June 2019 the government statted that the plan to sell state-run airliner is on track for 2019-2020. Currently, Air India has over Rs 55,000 crore debt, out of which Rs 29,464 crore was approved by the government in February 2019 for creation of special purpose vehicle (SPV).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 31, 2019 06:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).