Vilasrao suggests referring Air India to Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises

New Delhi: Will the Ministry of Civil Aviation allow the ailing national carrier Air India to be referred to the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) for revival?
The heavy industries ministry has sought the referral of AI to this body since it has been running losses for the last few years, but the civil aviation ministry appears to be in no mood to relent.
Speaking to DNA, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said his meeting with heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh some days ago on this issue was merely to apprise him of the situation with regard to Air India. “There is nothing like that,” he said when asked about AI being referred to BRPSE.
A senior ministry official said that Deshmukh’s concern on AI employee wages have also been addressed since there is no proposal for a wage cut, only to “rationalise” wages. “We have told the heavy industries ministry that it is premature to look at referring Air India to BRPSE. Nacil (coporate identity of AI) is not even three years old......besides, Air India’s finances and the entire case of this airline is already under the ambit of a group of ministers.”
Meanwhile, even as the Cabinet has cleared Rs1,200 crore equity infusion into the national carrier, its plan to create two separate strategic business units (SBUs), for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services or engineering and for ground handling, is yet to get the Cabinet nod.
04/01/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India Jan 2011