Union Civil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday, 29 October, announced that bidding for Air India would be done on the basis of its enterprise value instead of equity value.
IANS reported that the change in criteria will allow for the bidding to take place on the current value of the assets and other resources of Air India.
"The enterprise value shall mean combined value of 'Debt' and equity of AI as assessed by bidder in its financial bid," said an official document by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam), IANS reported.
Puri also said that the deadline for submitting the bids has been extended to 14 December from 30 October. The deadline for announcing the name of those short-listed has also been extended to 28 December.
On its part, the Dipam issued the ninth corrigendum to the global invitation for Expression of Interest (EoI) for the proposed divestment of Air India.
Speaking at the conference, the minister also said that after a year of hardship for the airline industry, he expected that by the time we reach Diwali, and between Diwali and the end of the year, figures of operations under domestic civil aviation would resemble pre-COVID levels.
Speaking about visas, Puri said that permitting foreign tourist visas would be the next logical step, but added that this would happen only after assessing the COVID-19 situation.
The Home Ministry on 22 October had announced its decision to permit all Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card holders and all other foreign nationals intending to visit India for any purpose.
This means that all foreign nationals, except on a Tourist Visa, are allowed to enter by air or water routes through authorised airports and seaport immigration check posts.
This enables foreign nationals to come to India for various purposes such as business, conferences, employment, studies, research, medical purposes etc, the MHA said.
(With inputs from IANS.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)