Good Bye Maharaj! Air India & Bharat Petroleum to be sold by March 2020: Finance Minister

November 17: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the government is planning to sell the state-run airline Air India and the oil marketing PSU Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) by March 2020. Speaking to Times of India, the finance minister confirmed that the government is focused on divesting the two state-run companies by the end of the financial year.

FM Nirmala also added saying that there is a “lot of interest” among investors which is clearly visible in the international roadshows ahead of Air India’s sale. The government had to drop the national carrier’s stake sale last year due to the investors’ not-so-enthusiastic response.

The sale of these two companies is expected to help the government meet its target of raising around 14 billion U.S. dollars through disinvestment. Reports said the government will conduct roadshows at global financial centres such as London and Singapore to woo investors for the disinvestment. These two are the debt-ridden state-owned companies of India according to the Union government.