New Delhi: The Department Of Investment And Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has stated that the identities of bidders for national carrier Air India will be confidential and will be shared with specific agencies in national interest only on government advice.
EY is the government’s transaction adviser to manage the Air India divestment process.
“Every one of the potential bidders will be assigned a code by the transaction adviser. All activities including due diligence, site visits, bidding, etc, shall be performed using the code only,” DIPAM stated in a note tweeted by the Civil Aviation Ministry, adding the code would be the identity of the bidder.
“A non-disclosure undertaking should be signed by the potential bidder, inter alia, undertaking that the entity and its employees shall not reveal the identity and/or contact any member of the CPSE (central public sector enterprise) or the administrative ministry/DIPAM, and also maintain the data/info of CPSE (shared as a part of the transaction) strictly confidential,” it added.
That is the government’s second try at selling its stake in the airline, a process that has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The government hopes to complete the Air India sale process in FY22.
