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PC Board rejects Rs10bn bid for PIA, floats new proposals

News Desk

Nov 13

The Privatisation Commission (PC) Board on Wednesday rejected the latest bid for the national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), presenting new proposals for the airline's privatisation.

 

New proposals will now be forwarded to the cabinet committee and the federal cabinet for approval.

 

The Blue World City consortium, the only bidder, had placed a bid of Rs10bn against the minimum price of Rs85.03bn. The Shehbaz-led government had pre-qualified six groups in June, but only the real estate development company participated in the final bidding process.

 

The decision to reject the lowest bid and new proposals came during a meeting chaired by Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan. Several privatisation initiatives were reviewed and key recommendations were approved.

 

The minister stressed that all privatisation efforts, including those for PIA, must adhere to legal protocols while prioritising the national interest.

 

"The final decision on the privatisation of institutions like PIA rests with the cabinet committee and steps must be taken to enhance future bidding processes, Khan maintained.

 

The minister also directed officials to expedite the privatisation of PIA and other public entities and emphasised the importance of learning from the current PIA privatisation process to improve future efforts.

 

There are some media reports that the federal government is also working on a new plan for privatisation, which involves the sell-off of the cash-strapped national carrier to either Qatar or Abu Dhabi under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement.

 

It is worth mentioning that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government and local business community have also shown interest in buying the PIA.

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