The highest bidder for Air India should become clear by the end of August, RN Choubey Secretary Civil Aviation said on Tuesday.
The highest bidder will have to meet Substantial Ownership and Effective Ownership criterion and get security clearances before the sale takes place.
“The Government retains the right to sell or not to sell Air India if the bid price is found to be inadequate,” Choubey said
No domestic airline has shown an interest in Air India. However, Choubey said that there has been lots of interest in the airline. The government has said they will off load 76 per cent stake in Air India.
The Government is keen to complete the divestment procedure by end of this calendar year. The Government is clear that it is okay if the winner of Air India is an entity which does not have airline business experience.