Sole PIA bid formally rejected, case sent back to cabinet

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. 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.