Saturday, May 18, 2019

Air India arm’s privatisation hits a bump

New Delhi: The government’s effort to privatise Air India Air Transport Services Ltd., Air India’s ground handling arm, has run into a stone wall, with potential bidders raising concerns over the Airport Authority of India’s plan to award ground-handling work at 76 of its airports to vendors. This, according to them, could impact the value of the entity up for sale.

The deadline for bids for 98% stake sale for AIATSL has been extended twice since February 12, when the tender was floated. The original deadline for submission of bids was on February 26, which was first extended to May 26, was pushed further to June 16.

“We have sought a response from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) regarding its tender process for ground handling after which we will be in a position to address concerns raised by potential bidders,” said a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, on condition of anonymity.

Ground handling agencies such as Bird Group, Celebi Aviation Holding, and Bhadra said that high royalties of up to 226% offered by bidders short-listed by AAI would have to be matched by the new buyer of AIATSL to provide services, which will make the entity unviable.
17/05/19 Jagriti Chandra/The Hindu

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