New Delhi (Sputnik) — In a major setback to the Narendra Modi-led government's reforms agenda, India's high-profile offer to sell a controlling stake in national carrier Air India had failed to attract a single bidder. The government had given the country's industry players three months to respond to the offer to pick up a 76 percent stake in the debt-ridden company.
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"As informed by the Transaction Adviser, no response has been received for the Expression of Interest floated for the strategic disinvestment of Air India," the civil aviation ministry said in a tweet.
"It did not meet the expectation of participation we had," RN Choubey, the senior-most bureaucrat of the Civil Aviation Ministry told reporters, adding that his ministry thought that a 76 percent stake was "good enough."
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Air India has over 150 aircraft presently operational on 43 international routes with 2,500 international prime-time slots per week. It also flies over 54 domestic destinations.
India's IndiGo Airlines and Jet Airways had initially shown interest to bid, but their enthusiasm got blown away once the government disclosed the initial terms of the sale.