No plan to sell off entire government stake in AI: Minister
New Delhi, Aug 1 : The government has no plans to sell-off its entire stake in Air India, Parliament was told on Wednesday.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question on whether the government is considering to exit from the airline altogether, instead of holding a 24 per cent stake.
"The government has no such plan to exit Air India altogether," he was quoted as saying in the reply.
The government had invited Expression of Interest (EoI) on March 28 this year for disinvestment of Air India including the national carrier's share-holding interest in the Air India Express Ltd and Air India SATS. But it received no response till May 31, the closing day.
"Probable reasons as analyzed by the 'Transaction Advisor, i.e, M/s EY' for non-receipt of bids, inter-alia, are GOI 24 per cent stake and corresponding rights, high amount of allocated debt, changes in macro environment, individuals not being allowed to bid, profitability track record and bidders not being able to form a consortium within given time period," he said in the reply.
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Rupee hits all-time intra-day low of 92.36 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee tumbled 35 paise to hit all-time intra-day low of 92.36 against the US dollar on Thursday as global crude oil prices kept rising overnight and showed no signs of easing amid the raging war in West Asia.
A stronger greenback, and weak sentiments in the domestic equity markets further weighed on the rupee, which was already on a weak footing in early trade due to heavy FII outflows, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 92.25 but kept falling to hit an all-time intra-day low of 92.36 against the US dollar, losing 35 paise from its previous close.
The rupee had seen its previous record intra-day low of 92.35 against the greenback on March 9.
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On Wednesday, it declined 16 paise to settle at 92.01 against the US dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.18 per cent higher at 99.40.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 6.72 per cent at USD 98.16 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex plunged 445.26 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 76,418.45 points, while the Nifty was down 121.70 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 23,745.15.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 6,267.31 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
