Air India Grabs the Attention of SpiceJet's Ajay Singh and other Investors

Ajay Singh Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet along with two other investors are interested in the acquisition of the beleaguered Air India. According to the report obtained amongst these investors at least one of the said investors is a foreign fund.

Furthermore, the report claims along with Ajay and the other two investors various multiple parties that have shown interest in the airlines. However, Ajay wants to get a 100 percent stake, but it is less likely to get it if he and his co-investors are managing to acquire the airline, the report said citing sources aware of the matter.

Debt-laden Air India has been cash-strapped, and the government has invited bids for 100 percent of its equity. The government earlier said it had received ‘multiple expressions of interest’.

The report has also quoted another source revealing that not all the parties were particular or would ‘qualify for the later stage’, when asked to submit their bids. The source has further added that the bids had been made ‘just to raise the number of interested parties’.

The government is making a second attempt to sell Air India after the first one failed in 2018 due to a lack of bidders. However, in 2020, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the airline would be pressurised to shut if not privatised.

Thus, the Tata Group has also shown interest in the bid. An employee consortium is also among interested parties.