The Indian government will likely extend the April 30 deadline for bidding to take over debt-ridden Air India.
The global coronavirus pandemic has conspired against the government’s plan to offload the loss-making national carrier.
It would be the second time the deadline has been extended.
It was pushed back from an original deadline date of March 17 but since then the economic climate has deteriorated further.
While there has been some interest from India carriers, there is arguably not a single airline in the world in a position right now to take it on, especially as they would have to absorb billions of dollars of debt.
"There is a case to extend the bid submission deadline for Air India given the current global and domestic situation," a government official said.
The government wants to sell its 100% stake in the airline and has parked a large portion of AI’s debt to sweeten the deal.
Under current FDI rules a foreign entity is allowed to take a 49% shareholding in an airline.
