Privatization of Air India: Names of bidders kept confidential

New Delhi: The Ministry of Finance announced that the names of potential bidders for the national carrier Air India Limited will be kept strictly confidential by the Transaction Adviser and could be shared only with specialized agencies of national importance on the advice of the Government.

"The transaction advisor will provide a code to each bidder as part of the auction process. All auction processes, site visits, biddings, etc., will be done using the code only," said the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). According to LiveMint, the Finance Department also clarified that the code given by the advisor-in-charge of the share sale transaction would be the identity of the bidder.

The Centre intends to complete the privatization of debt-ridden Air India in the financial year 2021-22. The Tata Group and a consortium of employees led by a board member of the airline are among the parties that have submitted their Expressions of Interest (EOI) for Air India. The staff consortium consists of 219 employees led by the Board of Directors (Commerce) member Meenakshi Mallik. The consortium intends to ally with a private equity fund for the transaction.