Bidding for Air India to be done on enterprise value: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said bidding for Air India would be done on the basis of its enterprise value instead of equity value.
The enterprise value of a company includes the equity value, debt as well as cash with the company. Equity value measures the value of a company's shares.
"We have decided to ask for bids for Air India on enterprise value," Puri said at a press conference.
Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said at the conference, "The bid will be on the enterprise value... In this enterprise value also, a ratio has been earmarked between how much he (bidder) can take as debt and how much he has to give as cash."
It has been decided that whatever enterprise value the bidder quotes, 15 percent of that has to be given in cash to the government, and the remaining 85 percent has to be taken as debt along with Air India, Kharola explained.
The debt of Air India as of March 31, 2019, was Rs 58,255 crore. Later in 2019, Rs 29,464 crore of this debt was transferred from Air India to a government-owned special purpose vehicle called Air India Assets Holding Company Limited (AIAHL).
After its unsuccessful attempt to sell Air India in 2018, the government in January this year restarted the divestment process and invited bids for selling 100 percent of its equity in the state-owned airline, including Air India's 100 percent shareholding in Air India Express Ltd and 50 percent in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Ltd.
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Sabarimala gold loss: How did the accused reach Rahul's home, asks Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday hit back at Rahul Gandhi for targeting the ruling CPI(M) over the Sabarimala gold loss case during a poll campaign, questioning how the accused in the case had managed to reach the Congress leader's home.
The Marxist veteran was apparently referring to a widely circulated purported photograph in which the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold loss cases, Unnikrishnan Potty, accompanied by some senior Congress leaders, was seen with Sonia Gandhi at her residence in Delhi.
He also said people have already given a reply to Rahul, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on this matter.
The CM's reaction came a day after Rahul sang a line from a popular parody song about CPI(M) leaders' alleged roles in the gold theft at the Sabarimala temple while addressing a corner meeting as part of the assembly polls campaign in Pathanamthitta district.
As he sang the line "swarnam kattathu aarappa" (who stole the gold of Ayyappa) from a song used by the Congress-led UDF to target the ruling Left during the local body polls a few months ago, at the meeting in Pathanamthitta -- the district where the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa is located-- the crowd cheered Rahul.
Soon after Gandhi targeted the Left party over the gold loss issue, CPI (M) activists began a social media campaign making allegations against his mother and former party chief Sonia Gandhi in connection with the matter.
While replying to a question regarding this, CM Vijayan said the Congress leader already got a befitting reply and should he also repeat the same.
"If he thinks about how all those who were involved in the stealing had reached his home...then he will get a reply. Anyway, we don't have any such flaws," Vijayan added.
Attacking the Left and the BJP over the Sabarimala gold loss issue, Rahul Gandhi on Monday had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had forgotten about what happened in Sabarimala, during his visit to Palakkad as part of election campaign.
Rahul claimed that the prime minister remained silent to avoid damaging the LDF.
He had also said that a UDF government would ensure that those responsible for alleged irregularities related to the temple are punished.
