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SIA-Tata bid for Air-India may fail

A joint bid by Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group to take a 40 per cent stake in the national carrier, Air-India, is not a sure thing despite being the only bid on the table, a report said on Monday.

The Union government on Friday disqualified the only other bidder for Air-India, the Britain-based Hinduja family, from buying a stake in the state-run airline as the Hinduja brothers were facing prosecution in a 1986 arms-sale kickback scandal.

"The joint bid by Singapore Airlines and Tata has to be approved by the Indian government, which faces strong opposition to the privatisation of the loss-making Air-India," the daily Straits Times said.

The report said the bid may not meet the government's reserve price. The reserve price has not been published.

A Singapore Airlines spokesman said the airline would not comment on the bid and referred all inquiries to Tata in New Delhi.

Communist Party of India opposed the Singapore-government owned Singapore Airline's bid for a stake in Air-India because control of the airline could fall into the hands of a foreign company, the report said.

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