Business Desk 
Nov 01, 2024
The Blue World Consortium has submitted the only bid of Rs10 billion for 60% stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as the government of Pakistan is eager to attract a considerable offer for major stake of the national carrier.
The amount offered by the business conglomerate is a mere fraction of the Privatization Commission’s (PC) bare minimum of Rs85 billion.
The Blue World offer came as the sole bid during the entire bidding process which started at 1:30pm (PKT) and concluded at 6:30pm.
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Extending the sole bid of Rs10 billion to the PC, the consortium reiterated its offers, advising the government to oversee the airline's operation itself it it's unwilling to consider the bid.
From among the six groups the government had pre-qualified in June this year, only Blue World City stood out by timely submitting final documents before the deadline.
As the government aims to reform state-owned entities to come on par with IMF demands, the privatisation of PIA is crucial to the government’s efforts.
Blue World Group chief Chaudhry Saad Nazir expressed optimism about the future of the national carrier under the ownership of consortium, promising to rebuild PIA within six months and leveraging the best technical and financial expertise to make it a profitable enterprise.
