NEW DELHI: India’s largest airline IndiGo has pulled out of the race to acquire national carrier Air India, dealing a blow to the government’s privatization campaign.
Indigo told the Bombay Stock Exchange late Thursday that it was interested only in Air India’s international routes and not its domestic operations.
The government, which said last week it wants to sell a 76 percent chunk of the debt-laden carrier, wants the prospective buyer to take on all of Air India’s operations.
The government last week released bid documents on one of the country’s highest-profile asset sale in decades.
The documents said the proposed sale would include a 100 percent stake in Air India’s low-cost arm Air India Express, which operates in West Asia, and a 50 percent stake in its ground-handling SATS Airport Services.
“From day one, IndiGo has expressed its interest primarily in the acquisition of Air India’s international operations and Air India Express,” IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh said in the statement to the stock exchange.
“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.”
IndiGo publicly expressed interest in acquiring Air India’s international operating arm after the government first approved a sale in June last year.
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.
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.
IndiGo ends interest in buying Air India
IndiGo ends interest in buying Air India
- India has the world’s fastest-growing passenger airline industry, expanding at an annual rate of around 20 percent.
Egypt’s Suez Canal, Namibian Ports Authority sign MoU to propel port development, training
RIYADH: Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority and the Namibian Ports Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding amid efforts to propel cooperation in development and training.
The agreement aims to exchange expertise and enhance bilateral cooperation in several areas, most notably marine construction, the sale and leasing of marine units, and advanced training through the Suez Canal Authority’s academies, according to a statement.
This is supported by figures from the Suez Canal Authority, which reported revenues of $1.97 billion from 5,874 ship transits since early July, representing a 17.5 percent year-on-year increase, chairman Osama Rabie said during a recent meeting with an International Monetary Fund delegation.
It also aligns well with Rabie’s further forecast that the canal’s revenues would improve during the 2026/2027 fiscal year to around $8 billion, rising to approximately $10 billion the following year, according to a statement issued by the authority.
The newly released statement said: “Rabie affirmed the authority’s readiness for fruitful and constructive cooperation with the Namibian Ports Authority, given the expansion of the entity’s international projects and its efforts to open new markets and engage with the African continent.”
“The chairman explained that the Suez Canal Authority’s efforts succeeded in developing and reopening the Libyan port of Sirte after 14 years of closure, marking a successful start to international projects with friendly and sister nations,” it added.
The chairman instructed that all necessary support and procedures be put in place to initiate practical cooperation on multiple projects, highlighting that the authority offers a comprehensive system for maritime and logistics services through its shipyards and subsidiaries.
For her part, Nangula Hamunyela, chairperson of the Namibian Ports Authority, voiced her enthusiasm for collaborating with the Suez Canal Authority on advancing Namibia’s ambitious port development plan, home to the largest ports in West Africa.
She stressed that this partnership highlights the strong relationship between Egypt and Namibia and will help further deepen bilateral ties.
Hamunyela further highlighted that the Suez Canal Authority’s advanced technology and vast expertise across multiple sectors will play a key role in supporting and speeding up development efforts in Namibian ports, reducing dependence on foreign expertise and technology from outside the region.
Egypt’s Suez Canal generated a total of $40 billion between 2019 and 2024 and remains the country’s most important source of foreign currency.
