Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday indicated that the deadline for submission of preliminary bids for Air India could be extended even as he emphasised that the divestment process was going on “extremely well”.

“There is a lot of interest... A lot of entities have come and asked us. Today is the last date for (the) queries,” he said.

The minister of state for civil aviation also said extra time would be given to people but did not elaborate.

The government extended the deadline till March 6 for bidders to submit additional queries regarding the proposed divestment. The earlier deadline was February 11.

When asked whether the deadline for submission of initial bids would be extended, Puri said, “only to accommodate a few days that we lost”. Specific details could not be immediately ascertained. The last date for submitting preliminary bids is March 17.

Last month, government officials said the deadline was likely to be extended.

Puri also said the ministry will ask private airlines to waive cancellation fee for passengers in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. National carrier Air India has already waived off cancellation fees.

“I am very happy to tell you that Air India has already waived cancellation charges... All the others are private sector carriers. All I can tell you that we will be making suitable recommendations to the private carriers,” Puri said.

The spread of coronavirus has severely affected the travel and tourism sector with people cancelling their trips.

The minister said the government is working on providing some temporary relief to the domestic airline industry following cancellation of several flights.

“Conversations have started. Yesterday, secretary met some CEOs of airlines. We will try and make it easier for them.”