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'Govt did not find out why other A-I bidders withdrew'

The government said on Monday that it has not tried to find out why bidders like Air France-Delta Airlines, Swiss Air Group and Emirates, who had submitted expressions of interest for divestment of Air-India - withdrew from the process thereafter.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Divestment Arun Shourie said these three bidders had in fact submitted their EOIs and obtained bid packs but withdrew later without assigning any reason.

On whether the government had tried to find out the reasons for these bidders' loss of interest in the divestment process, the minister replied in the negative.

Replying to another question, Shourie denied that the withdrawal of these bidders was in any way related to the draft shareholders' agreement and share purchase agreement for A-I divestment, saying: "The parties who withdrew from the bidding process did so for their own internal reasons and they did not mention the conditions of the draft shareholders' agreement and share purchase agreement as the reasons for their withdrawal."

He said British Airways-Qantas had also expressed interest in the initial stages of A-I divestment but did not confirm its participation and later withdrew.

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