Announcement came just days after rival IndiGo pulled out of the race to acquire Air India's operation

Jet Airways on Tuesday became the latest major Indian airline to rule out a bid for debt-laden national carrier Air India in a new blow to the government's privatisation plans.

The announcement came just days after rival IndiGo pulled out of the race to acquire Air India's operations meaning the government now has no clear frontrunner in the sale campaign.

"We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step," Jet Airways' deputy chief executive, Amit Agarwal said in a statement emailed to AFP.

"However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," he added.

Once the country's monopoly airline, Air India has slowly lost market share to new low-cost private players in one of the world's fastest-growing airline markets.

Air India ran losses for nearly a decade after a botched merger in 2007 and has debts of around $7.67 billion according to government figures.

It has received $5.8 billion in bailout funds from the government but needs even more working capital to turn it around, experts say.

The Indian government recently said it wanted to sell a 76 percent chunk of the struggling carrier.

It released bid documents on what would be one of the country's highest-profile asset sales in decades showing it wants the prospective buyer to take on all of Air India's operations.

IndiGo, India's largest airline, withdrew on Friday, saying it was interested only in Air India's international routes and not its domestic operations.

India has the world's fastest-growing passenger airline industry, expanding at an annual rate of around 20 percent.

About 100 million of its 1.25 billion people took to the skies in 2016 and airlines have embarked on huge purchases of new jets in expectation of new growth.

For all the latest transport news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin , like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.</s>In a major blow to government’s plans to privatise debt-ridden Air India, major Indian international airline Jet Airways has pulled out of a race to acquire the national carrier, Reuters reported. IndiGo and SpiceJet already have ruled out bids to acquire stakes in Air India. Based on our review and considering the terms of the offer included in the information memorandum, company is not participating in the Air India privatisation process, Jet Airways’ deputy chief executive, Amit Agarwal said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Reuters reported citing unidentified analysts that high debt levels of Air India discouraged Jet Airways to participate in the race any longer especially when the company itself is working to reduce its indebtedness. The low-cost air carrier IndiGo had made exit from the race citing reasons that it didn’t want to purchase national carrier’s domestic and international networks together.

Earlier today, while talking to CNBC TV18, Ajay Singh, the chairman of low-cost carrier SpiceJet, said that his company is too small to place a bid for a large national carrier such as Air India.“ We have always said that SpiceJet is too small to bid for a large airline like the national carrier, Ajay Singh told CNBC TV18.

Last month, government had announced to sell 76 percent stake in Air India, as per the preliminary information memorandum that was released on Wednesday on strategic disinvestment of the national carrier. Expression of Interest (EoI) for the sale of stake in Air India and two of its subsidiaries were sought by the Civil Aviation Ministry.</s>Not participating in the process: Jet Airways' in statement about withdrawing from Air India bid</s>MUMBAI: Jet Airways on Tuesday became the latest major Indian airline to rule out a bid for debt-laden national carrier Air India in a new blow to the government’s privatisation plans.

 The announcement came just days after rival IndiGo pulled out of the race to acquire Air India’s operations meaning the government now has no clear frontrunner in the sale campaign.

 “We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step,” Jet Airways’ deputy chief executive, Amit Agarwal said. “However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process,” he added.

 Once the country’s monopoly airline, Air India has slowly lost market share to new low-cost private players in one of the world’s fastest-growing airline markets.

 Air India ran losses for nearly a decade after a botched merger in 2007 and has debts of around $7.67 billion according to government figures.

 It has received $5.8 billion in bailout funds from the government but needs even more working capital to turn it around, experts say.

 The Indian government recently said it wanted to sell a 76 per cent chunk of the struggling carrier.

 It released bid documents on what would be one of the country’s highest-profile asset sales in decades showing it wants the prospective buyer to take on all of Air India’s operations.

 IndiGo, India’s largest airline, withdrew on Friday, saying it was interested only in Air India’s international routes and not its domestic operations. — AFP</s>Jet Airways on Tuesday said it would not be participating in the Air India disinvestment process, becoming the second domestic airline after IndiGo to make such a decision in less than a week.

The ambitious strategic stake sale of loss-making Air India as well as its two subsidiaries seem to be hitting air pockets with the two potential bidders deciding to keep away citing the contours of the process.

Kicking off the disinvestment process, the government has came out with a detailed preliminary information memorandum, detailing plans to offload up to 76 per cent stake in Air India and transfer the management control to private players.

“We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step. However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process,” Jet Airways Deputy CEO & CFO Amit Agarwal told PTI in an e-mailed statement. However, he did not divulge specific reason about the decision to not participate in the stake sale process.

Last month, sources had said that a consortium of Jet Airways, Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines was understood to have expressed interest in the disinvestment of Air India. Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways’ statement today comes less than a week after no-frills carrier IndiGo aborting plans to acquire Air India’s international operations.

On April 5, IndiGo President and Whole Time Director Aditya Ghosh said that from day one, the airline has expressed its interest primarily in the acquisition of Air India’s international operations and Air India Express. “However, that option is not available under the government’s current divestiture plans for Air India. Also, as we have communicated before, we do not believe that we have the capability to take on the task of acquiring and successfully turning around all of Air India’s airline operations,” he had said in a statement.

IndiGo was the first to evince interest in Air India disinvestment when the government had mooted the plan last year. According to the memorandum, issued on March 28, the government would retain 24 per cent stake in the national carrier, the winning bidder would be required to stay invested in the airline for at least three years.

The proposed disinvestment would include profit-making Air India Express and joint venture AISATS. The latter is an equal joint venture between the national carrier and Singapore-based SATS Ltd. The existing debt and liabilities of Air India and Air India Express as on March 31, 2017 would be re-allocated, as per the memorandum.

“It is expected that debt and liabilities, including net current liabilities of Rs 88,160 million, aggregating to Rs 3,33,920 million will remain with AI and AIXL (no change for AI-SATS except in normal course of business). This number shall be further adjusted to account for material business developments post March 31, 2017 for instance purchases/ delivery of aircraft etc. “The balance debt shall be allocated to Air India Asset Holding Limited which is 100 per cent owned by the Government of India subject to receipt of requisite approvals from lenders and regulators, as applicable,” the memorandum said.

Contingent liabilities would remain with Air India and Air India Express. Within the contingent liabilities, income tax, customs duty, as well as service tax and guarantee fee/ penal charges due to the government would continue to remain with Air India. There would be the “government commitment to make it good/ indemnify in case the liabilities are confirmed against Air India,” the memorandum said.

The last date for submission of Expression of Interest (EoI) is May 14 and intimation to the qualified interest bidders would be made on May 28. The national carrier is staying on taxpayers’ money under the turnaround plan approved by the previous UPA government in 2012.

For all the latest Business News, download Indian Express App</s>Jet Airways today said it would not be participating in the Air India disinvestment process, becoming the second domestic airline after IndiGo to make such a decision in less than a week.

 

 The ambitious strategic stake sale of loss-making Air India as well as its two subsidiaries seem to be hitting air pockets with the two potential bidders deciding to keep away citing the contours of the process.

 

 Kicking off the disinvestment process, the government has came out with a detailed preliminary information memorandum, detailing plans to offload up to 76 per cent stake in Air India and transfer the management control to private players.

 

 "We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step. However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," Jet Airways Deputy CEO & CFO Amit Agarwal told PTI in an e-mailed statement.

 

 However, he did not divulge specific reason about the decision to not participate in the stake sale process.

 

 Last month, sources had said that a consortium of Jet Airways, Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines was understood to have expressed interest in the disinvestment of Air India.

 

 Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways' statement today comes less than a week after no-frills carrier IndiGo aborting plans to acquire Air India's international operations.

 

 On April 5, IndiGo President and Whole Time Director Aditya Ghosh said that from day one, the airline has expressed its interest primarily in the acquisition of Air India's international operations and Air India Express.

 

 "However, that option is not available under the government's current divestiture plans for Air India. Also, as we have communicated before, we do not believe that we have the capability to take on the task of acquiring and successfully turning around all of Air India's airline operations," he had said in a statement.

 

 IndiGo was the first to evince interest in Air India disinvestment when the government had mooted the plan last year.

 

 According to the memorandum, issued on March 28, the government would retain 24 per cent stake in the national carrier, the winning bidder would be required to stay invested in the airline for at least three years.

 

 The proposed disinvestment would include profit-making Air India Express and joint venture AISATS. The latter is an equal joint venture between the national carrier and Singapore-based SATS Ltd.</s>The announcement came just days after rival IndiGo pulled out of the race to acquire Air India's operations meaning the government now has no clear frontrunner in the sale campaign.

"We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step," Jet Airways' deputy chief executive, Amit Agarwal said in a statement emailed to AFP.

"However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," he added.

Once the country's monopoly airline, Air India has slowly lost market share to new low-cost private players in one of the world's fastest-growing airline markets.

Air India ran losses for nearly a decade after a botched merger in 2007 and has debts of around $7.67 billion according to government figures.

It has received $5.8 billion in bailout funds from the government but needs even more working capital to turn it around, experts say.

The Indian government recently said it wanted to sell a 76 percent chunk of the struggling carrier.

It released bid documents on what would be one of the country's highest-profile asset sales in decades showing it wants the prospective buyer to take on all of Air India's operations.

IndiGo, India's largest airline, withdrew on Friday, saying it was interested only in Air India's international routes and not its domestic operations.

India has the world's fastest-growing passenger airline industry, expanding at an annual rate of around 20 percent.

About 100 million of its 1.25 billion people took to the skies in 2016 and airlines have embarked on huge purchases of new jets in expectation of new growth.

Explore further: India's Jet Airways to buy 75 Boeing jets in multi-billion dollar order</s>Just a day after Jet Airways rescinded its interest from participating in the disinvestment process of debt-laden Air India, Emirates on Wednesday also denied plans to buy or acquire the national carrier. The company has no plans to acquire any airline but will partner with airlines where our customers benefit, CNBC TV18 reported citing Emirates response to its query. On Tuesday, major Indian international carrier Jet Airways had announced that it’s not interested to acquire the national carrier, giving a major blow to government’s plans to privatise Air India.

IndiGo and SpiceJet have already ruled out bids to buy or acquire stakes in the debt-ridden national carrier. On the basis of our review and after considering terms of the offer in the information memorandum, the company has decided not to participate in the Air India privatisation process, Jet Airways’ deputy chief executive, Amit Agarwal said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Reuters also reported citing some analysts that the high levels of debt at Air India discouraged the airlines to bid for stakes especially considering the fact that the company itself is working on a plan to cut down its indebtedness. IndiGo had given reasons that it didn’t want to buy national carrier’s domestic and international networks together.

In March this year, the central government had made announcement to sell 76 percent stake in Air India, as per the preliminary information memorandum that was released on strategic disinvestment of the national carrier. The Civil Aviation Ministry also invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for the sale of stake in Air India and two of its subsidiaries.

The preliminary report released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on March 28 had said that national carrier Air India’s buyer will also have to take on debts of Rs 33,392 crore.

Emirates is an airline based out of Dubai in United Arab Emirates. The airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, that is wholly owned by the government of Dubai’s Investment Corporation of Dubai.</s>Air India ran losses for nearly a decade after a botched merger in 2007 and has debts of around USD 7.67 billion as per govt figures.

Once country's monopoly airline, Air India has slowly lost market share to new low-cost private players in one of the world's fastest-growing airline markets. (Photo: File)

Mumbai: Jet Airways on Tuesday became the latest major airline to rule out a bid for debt-laden national carrier Air India in a new blow to the government's privatisation plans.

The announcement came just days after rival IndiGo pulled out of the race to acquire Air India's operations meaning the government now has no clear front-runner in the sale campaign.

"We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step," Jet Airways' deputy chief executive, Amit Agarwal said in a statement emailed to news agency AFP.

"However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," he added.

Once country's monopoly airline, Air India has slowly lost market share to new low-cost private players in one of the world's fastest-growing airline markets.

Also Read: IndiGo pulls out of race to acquire national carrier Air India

Air India ran losses for nearly a decade after a botched merger in 2007 and has debts of around USD 7.67 billion according to government figures.

It has received USD 5.8 billion in bailout funds from the government but needs even more working capital to turn it around, experts say.

The government recently said it wanted to sell a 76 per cent chunk of the struggling carrier.

It released bid documents on what would be one of the country's highest-profile asset sales in decades showing it wants the prospective buyer to take on all of Air India's operations.

IndiGo, the country's largest airline, withdrew on Friday, saying it was interested only in Air India's international routes and not its domestic operations.

India is the world's fastest-growing passenger airline industry, expanding at an annual rate of around 20 per cent.

About 100 million Indians took to the skies in 2016 and airlines have embarked on huge purchases of new jets in expectation of new growth.</s>[India], Apr. 10 (ANI): Jet Airways on Tuesday became the latest Indian airline to distance itself from Air India disinvestment process.

"We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step. However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," Jet Airways CEO and CFO, Amit Agarwal said.

Earlier, IndiGo had opted out from the divestiture process of Air India stating that it was not interested in taking over its domestic operations.

IndiGo was the first airline that had officially expressed an interest to buy the national carrier when the government had mooted the plan last year. Starting the disinvestment process, the government has released detailed preliminary information memorandum, detailing plans to offload up to 76 per cent stake in Air India and transfer the management control to private players. The last date for submission of Expression of Interest (EoI) is May 14 and intimation to the qualified interest bidders would be made on May 28. (ANI)
Jet Airways withdraws from the race to acquire debt-ridden state-owned Air India.