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       THE government has received only one bid for the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

       A total of six consortiums had qualified to bid for the loss-making entity. However, five of them stayed away from the process.

       The sole bidder has deposited “earnest money” for the transaction with the Privatisation Commission by Tuesday’s deadline, Ahsan Ishaq, spokesman for the Privatisation Ministry told Bloomberg, but didn’t disclose the name of the interested party.

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       Earnest money is deposited by buyers to demonstrate their good faith or seriousness to complete the purchase.

       Earlier, the government had shortlisted Airblue Ltd., Arif Habib Corporation Ltd., Air Arabia’s Fly Jinnah, Y.B. Holdings Pvt, Pak Ethanol Pvt. and real estate consortium Blue World City to bid for a majority stake in the national carrier.

       The government initially planned to privatise the airline by June, but subsequent delays pushed the deadline to October.

       Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2024