ISLAMABAD: The Priv­atisation Commission’s board on Wednesday rejected a Rs10 billion bid submitted by the sole bidder for the divestment of 60 per cent shares in Pakistan International Airlines Corpo­ration Limited (PIACL), the privatisation ministry said in a statement.

The board decided to refer the issue of PIA’s privatisation to the Cabinet Committee on Privati­sation for further consideration.

Last month, the final bidding process for the privatisation of PIA attracted just one bid of Rs10bn for a 60pc stake in the national flag carrier.

Only real-estate development company Blue World City participated in the bidding process, placing a bid that was below the government-set minimum price of Rs85bn.

PC Board seeks improved offers for state-owned entities

The government had prequalified six groups in June, but only Blue World City participated in the final bidding process. Due to the huge difference between the expected and actual bids, the commission gave the consortium more time to reconsider its bid. However, Blue World City consortium chairman Saad Nazir kept the price unchanged.

On Wednesday, in a meeting chaired by Privatisation Mini­ster Abdul Aleem Khan, the board discussed advancing privatisation efforts for state-owned entities, including PIA and stressed the need to attract stronger bids in future transactions.

Mr Khan directed that the privatisation process should be carried forward without delay and underscored the importance of securing better offers for upcoming bids.

The board explored various options to expedite PIA’s divestment and reviewed the status of other ongoing privatisation transactions.

Mr Khan said that the framework given by the caretaker government for PIA’s privatisation was taken forward, but “now we have to keep in mind the concerns of the institutions involved in the privatisation”. He emphasised that “we have to learn from the privatisation process of PIA and have to be more active in future”.

The board decided to form a three-member committee to participate in the process of privatisation by members of the board. The meeting was briefed on various issues of privatisation and expressed satisfaction with the development so far.

During the meeting, various proposals were presented for PIA and the process of privatisation, and views were expressed on various issues and important decisions were taken. The minister extended the opportunity to all the Privatisation Comm­ission’s board members and heard their suggestions. Impor­tant issues related to the privatisation of other projects were also discussed.

“The privatisation issues will be completed in accordance with the laws and regulations and keeping in view the national interest before us because the final decision on the issues of privatisation of PIA and other institutions has to be taken by the cabinet committee,” Mr Khan said, according to the ministry’s statement.

In his briefing, the secretary of the Privatisation Commission noted that several international airlines, including Turkish Air­lines and Singapore Airlines, had expressed interest in PIA’s privatisation.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024