Air India divestment notification likely to be issued early next week

A notification announcing the contours of the sale of Air India is likely to be issued by early next week, CNBC TV18 reported citing sources.

The expression of interest (EoI) document is likely to be released three weeks from now.

The notification will likely provide some clarity on the airline's debt, which will be transferred to a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

The government is likely to retain 24 percent stake in the national carrier, according to the report. Earlier, the government had allowed foreign investment of up to 49 percent in Air India.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had earlier said that the EoI document inviting bids from private companies would be issued once the Arun Jaitley-headed alternative mechanism approved the document, Moneycontrol had reported earlier.

The alternative mechanism is a group of ministers, which on the advice of transaction advisor EY and other stakeholders like the aviation and finance ministries, is overseeing the Air India stake sale process.

The civil aviation ministry had earlier said that it has received unsolicited expressions of interest from domestic no-frills carrier IndiGo and an unidentified foreign airline.

A consortium of Jet Airways, Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines is also understood to have expressed interest in the disinvestment of the national carrier.

In January, Singapore Airlines, which operates Vistara along with its partner the Tata group, had said it will its keep options open on the Air India stake sale, after the government allowed foreign carriers to own up to 49 percent in the national carrier.

Air India has debt of over Rs 50,000 crore on its books, much of which will have to be absorbed by the government to attract private interest. The EoI will reveal how much stake the government would look to retain in the airline, if at all. It will also detail the number of units it would be split into, before being sold.