INDIA. Mumbai: Air India has announced the sale of its commercial and residential real estate assets in different parts of the country, through an e-auction, with a plan to raise Rs 200 crore to 300 crore, as part of the disinvestment process of India’s national air carrier.
As per the advertisement, the e-auction bid process will start on July 08, 2021 and will be closed on July 09, 2021. The e-auction notice is available on Air India website. Air India, through MSTC Ltd, a Central Government company, engaged in domestic and international trading activity, invites e-auction bids for the sale of the properties located across India,” according to the notice.
The government is in the process of deciding on the final contours for the disinvestment of loss-making Air India and a special purpose vehicle — Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL) — has been set up to hold the non-core assets of Air India group. It was set up for warehousing accumulated working capital loan not backed by any asset along with four subsidiaries — Air India Air Transport Services Ltd, Airline Allied Services Ltd, Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd (HCI) — and various non-core assets.
The properties to be sold in the auction include five units at the Asian Games Village Complex in Delhi, The list also includes a residential plot in Gangamuthanhalli Village, Devanahalli District in Bengaluru and a flat in Hoysala, Diana Complex, Kadri, Mangalore( both in Karnataka). A residential plot at NCC Nagar, Peroorkkada, Kadappanakunnu Village, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and four units of residential flats in Uday Shankar Sarani, Golf Green, Kolkata, also feature on the list.
In Maharashtra, it has listed a residential plot with 14 flats in Pali Hill, Bandra, and a 3BHK and two 2BHK flats in Gazdar Scheme in Santacruz, in northwest Mumbai. Elsewhere in the state, the list includes: booking offices and staff quarters in Town Centre, Aurangabad (Marathwada region), six units of CIDCO 2BHK flats in Swami Vivekanand Nagar, Nashik (North Maharashtra) and booking office in Civil Lines, Nagpur (Vidarbha region). In Gujarat, a residential plot (231 sq. m. approx.) and an Airlines House in Bhuj are on offer.
The disinvestment of cash-strapped Air India is likely to happen by the end of this year, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said earlier this month. “Air India is still in the debt of Rs 60,000 crore and it’s liable to be sold. The government is hoping to fetch approximately Rs 15,000 crore from the sale of national carrier Air India, its subsidiary Air India Express and AISATS – a 50:50 joint venture partnership between Air India and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) Limited.
The Tata Group and SpiceJet CEO Ajay Singh are the final two bidders for Air India. Both submitted Expressions of Interest (EoI) to the government in December 2020 and are expected to submit financial bids. A similar auction was held on January 07, 2021, to sell Air India’s 14 properties across the country.
The government’s budgetary proposal is to raise Rs. 1.75 lakh crore from disinvestments and strategic sales in 2021-22. The disinvestment plan includes the sale of assets such as BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, BEML, Pawan Hans, and Neelachal Ispat Nigam amongst others.
