AI employees consortium disqualified from privatisation bid

A group of 200 employees had submitted an expression of interest in partnership with a fund based in Seychelles

FILE - In this May 18, 2012, file photo, Air India planes are parked on the tarmac at the Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. India's federal cabinet has approved a plan to privatise its debt-ridden national carrier Air India. A statement from the finance ministry Wednesday, June 28, 2017, said that the government had given "in principle" approval to sell disinvest from the troubled airline which has struggled to emerge from the red as competition from a number of low-cost airlines has grown. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer, File)

The Air India employees consortium has been disqualified from the bidding process for privatisation of the national carrier , according to an internal mail.

Transaction Advisor Ernst and Young wrote to the employees’ grouping on Sunday informing it of the decision, “The EOI (expression of interest) and the supporting documents submitted by you have been duly evaluated and have been found to not fulfil the eligibility requirements set out in the Preliminary Information Memorandum issued in respect of the strategic disinvestment of Air India Limited (AI) and is liable for disqualification.”

A group of 200 Air India employees had submitted an expression of interest in partnership with a fund based in Seychelles.

The government issued a preliminary information memorandum for 100% stake sale in Air India last year in January and later that year tweaked a key bidding criteria that provided flexibility to bidders to decide on the debt they could take on. Following which, multiple expressions of interest were made for Air India.