The Centre has started the evaluation process of the bid documents for Air India as it looks to complete the exercise by the end of this year. The last date for the financial bids was Wednesday, with offers received from Tata Sons subsidiary Talace Pvt Ltd and a consortium led by SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh

“The bids have been completed. The central government is evaluating the technical aspects of the bids received. We are very hopeful. We are looking forward to taking the whole process to its logical conclusion,” civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday.

An inter-ministerial group would soon meet to take a call on the final reserve price, officials said.

The financial bids will be opened “after reserve value finalisation and security clearance”, a senior finance ministry official said without giving a time frame.

According to the bid documents, the bidders will be evaluated on the basis of the enterprise value quoted by the airline.

The government is seeking to sell 100 per cent of its stake in the state-owned national airline, including Air India’s 100 per cent shareholding in AI Express and 50 per cent in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Ltd.

The stake sale process, which began in January 2020, faced delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Drone push

Under the productivity-linked incentive scheme announced on Wednesday, the turnover of the drone industry will touch Rs 15,000 crore in five years, Scindia said.

The government has approved a PLI scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of Rs 120 crore spread over three financial years. The scheme follows the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, released by the Centre last month.

The minister said the three parts of the entire value chain in the drone sector are hardware (drone manufacturer), software and service delivery. “If you combine turnover of all three parts of the drone sector, this industry will have a turnover of approximately Rs 12,000-Rs 15,000 crore by 2026.”

Under the PLI scheme, the incentive for a manufacturer of drones and its parts will be 20 per cent of the value addition made by the company during the next three years.