The government’s move to privatise Air India is likely to garner pace as the group of ministers (GoM) headed by home minister Amit Shah is set to meet in the next few days.

“The ministerial panel headed by the home minister would be meeting in the next few days… people are interested to buy Air India,” minister of state for civil aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday.

“It is clear that there should be total privatisation. We have to get the best possible deal. And we have to get it in the shortest time available. We will not be doing any wavering of the kind that we witnessed earlier where we found a situation in which we hold back 24 per cent,” Puri said.

The GoM will look at the proposal prepared by the ministry of civil aviation and reviewed by the committee of secretaries in a recent meeting, Puri said, adding that it is not the government’s business to run airlines and, hence, Air India must go to a private player. However, the Air India brand will be retained.

“The government’s determination to privatise AI is a given, it’s undiluted. It should be a total privatisation. The airline is on an expansionary mode and when we sell the buyers can have the airline which makes money and not as is where is basis,” the minister said.

The ministerial panel named Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism will include finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, commerce and railway minister Piyush Goyal and civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

The panel is expected to take a final call on the amount of stake to be offered to investors and the right time for floating the expression of interest and the minimum price.

In its first term, the Modi government invited bids from investors in 2018 to buy out the government’s 76 per cent stake in Air India, along with management control. However, the process failed as investors did not put in their bids.