IndiGo not to bid for Air India

No-frills carrier IndiGo on Thursday announced that it will not bid for Air India under the current disinvestment norms, saying it is only interested in the national carrier's international operations.

This was made clear by IndiGo President and Whole Time Director Aditya Ghosh during an interaction with investors, who raised queries about the government announcement that Air India Express and AI-SATS would be up for disinvestment as one entity.

"From day one, IndiGo has expressed its interest primarily in the acquisition of Air India's international operations and Air India Express. However, that option is not available under the Government's current divestiture plans for Air India. Also, as we have communicated before, we do not believe that we have the capability to take on the task of acquiring and successfully turning around all of Air India's airline operations," Ghosh said.

Earlier this month, the government published a preliminary information memorandum in which it was proposed that it will sell 76% stake in Air India along with low-fare subsidiary Air India Express and a 50% stake in AI-SATS, a ground-handling joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS).

Many show interest

Soon after the Union Cabinet gave an in-principle approval for disinvestment of Air India on June 28, 2017, IndiGo became the first airline to express interest in the airline. It had then said it was interested in buying the international operations of Air India and Air India Express.

Besides IndiGo, Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture 'Vistara' has also expressed interest in Air India. Airlines like Jet Airways and Qatar Airways had indicated that they would be evaluating the situation.