The government is considering the idea of selling the entire stake in Air India after its latest attempt to sell 76 percent of the debt-ridden airline failed to draw even a single bid, reported Bloomberg.

The government will revive the attempt to sell Air India stake with new guidelines, said the report, adding that the focus will be primarily on an existing clause that required a minority stake for the state in Air India.

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The state will not insist in keeping 24 percent stake in the carrier, the report said quoting Subhash Chandra Garg, secretary, department of economic affairs.

"A certain kind of strategy was offered that didn’t find many takers and therefore something different will have to be done… there’s no fixed objective that government should have 24 percent. It can be re-examined,” Garg was quoted as saying in the report.

Air India, which was offered along with $5 billion of its debt, is surviving on taxpayer bailouts after losing money for years, added the report.

Previous attempts by the government to dispose of the carrier were derailed by political opposition, Bloomberg said.

First Published:Jun 13, 2018 10:22 AM IST