Patel to move cabinet note for offloading 49% stake in Nacil

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry plans to ask the cabinet to sell the state’s 49% stake in the National Aviation Company of India, which runs the loss-making national carrier Air India.
The ministry will discuss the idea with senior ministers before any cabinet note. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel has outlined the proposal to finance minister Pranab Muhkerjee, a government official said.
The attempt to bring in a strategic investor is expected to get good response from investors. An airline industry executive said a large corporate house with interest in automobile industry has shown interest in buying a stake in the asset-rich airline.
The airline will need Rs 10,000 crore from the government every year to stay afloat, if the plan to rope in a strategic investor fails to get cabinet clearance.
“Any investor or a combination of investors with a long-term view would put their money in the airline,” said Pankaj Karna, managing director of consulting firm Maple Capital Advisors. Air India presents an unparalleled infrastructure in aviation industry with its assets, he said.
An earlier attempt to sell a stake in the airline in 2001 failed due to opposition from the constituents of the National Democratic Alliance, which was in power that time.
The government has appointed four independent directors — Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) vice-chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra, former Indian Air Force chief Fali H. Major, Ambuja group chairman H Neotia and industry lobby Ficci’s secretary general Amit Mitra — on the ailing company’s board. The airline plans to appoint a chief operating officer. A committee under aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar has interviewed three expat executives for the position.
30/03/10 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: NACIL Mar 2010