LAHORE/PESHAWAR: The Punjab government on Monday took a U-turn on its consideration to acquire Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur decided to go ahead with a plan to outbid the current offer of Rs10 billion by the Blue World City consortium.

The much-anticipated privatisation of PIA hit a standstill last week as the only bid fell Rs75bn short of the government’s expectations. The Blue World City consortium submitted a bid of Rs10bn, far below the minimum price of Rs85.03bn set by the Privatisation Commission.

At a press conference in Lahore, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said: “The Punjab government has no plans to buy PIA. Mian Nawaz Sharif never said that the Punjab government is planning to purchase PIA.”

However, she questioned the KP government’s consideration of acquiring PIA, given its struggles to pay salaries to its employees.

“The KP government, which does not even have funds to pay salaries to its employees, is dreaming of buying PIA,” Ms Bokhari remarked, adding that it was nothing short of a joke that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz would follow KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur in showing interest in PIA purchase.

Azma says Nawaz never claimed provincial govt planning to buy the airline; CM Gandapur says his govt will ‘go to any length’ to outbid current offer

The KP government, in a surprise move, had offered to acquire the struggling PIA last week, sparking a debate over whether the announcement was a genuine acquisition bid or an attempt to ‘troll’ the federal government.

Later, Nawaz Sharif had said during a media interaction in New York that Maryam Nawaz had sought his counsel on whether the Punjab government should acquire PIA or establish a new airline.

“Maryam proposed that the Punjab government launch a new airline — Air Punjab — and I advised her to proceed with further consultations on the potential acquisition of PIA,” the elder Sharif had said.

“We could introduce a new airline that would offer direct flights from Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta to New York, along with services to London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and other international destinations.”

However, Ms Bokhari told the presser on Monday that ex-PM Sharif had never said the Punjab government was planning to purchase PIA. But she added: “All Pakistanis want the national flag carrier to improve, and if investors from Karachi are interested in investing in PIA, it’s a positive development.”

Interestingly, federal minister Aleem Khan had also praised the Punjab and KP governments for showing interest in buying PIA. He said the federal government may devise a new framework to clear the Rs200bn liabilities and then “sell a clean PIA” to a private buyer.

“As per the existing framework, around Rs600bn of PIA’s liabilities of over Rs830bn debt have been parked in a holding company while the remaining Rs200bn will be transferred to the private buyer,” the minister said.

Since the ministry for privatisation was criticised for failing to find a potential buyer, Aleem Khan said there were some demands by potential buyers such as zero-GST on purchasing new aircraft, which the government couldn’t accept due to the deal with the IMF.

KP can go to any extent

While talking to the media, KP CM Gandapur insisted his government would go to any length to acquire the national flag carrier, asserting that the provincial government was in a position to buy PIA.

“All other provinces have failed to achieve the targets set by the International Monitory Fund (IMF) but KP has achieved. The province is surplus and has increased the province’s revenue by 44pc,” the chief minister said.

He alleged that the PML-N-led government was not selling but indirectly buying PIA, referring to the Punjab government’s announcement of purchasing the national flag carrier.

The chief minister said that they would not let the country’s name [referring to PIA] sold in exchange for pennies. “We will buy PIA in the same name and will run it as a government property. We will go to any extent during the bidding,” Mr Gandapur added.

The KP CM claimed that overseas Pakistanis hailing from KP were sending him messages that they would “collect charity but will never want someone else to buy PIA”.

On Friday, the KP Board of Investment and Trade (KP-BOIT) sent a letter to Privatisation Minister Aleem Khan, expressing interest in purchasing the national carrier.

Also, the chief minister’s adviser on information and public relations Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said that the province’s bid was genuine and not politically motivated. “We are interested in acquiring the airline,” Mr Saif told Dawn, adding that the KP government intended to operate PIA professionally.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2024