Thursday, January 18, 2018

Air India divestment will happen but suggestions are welcome: Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju

New Delhi: The proposed divestment of national carrier Air India is going to take place. However, suggestions on the strategic divestment are welcome, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has said. The minister made the statement while responding to recent reports that a Parliamentary Panel might recommend to scuttle the divestment process.
 “Members of Parliament are free to suggest. Whatever suggestion they give us, we will look at them. Recommendations and discussions on the issue are always welcome. However, I don’t think that anything will be called back. That’s not the way how government can work,” Raju said.

An inter ministerial committee headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley is finalising the modalities of the divestment—of at least 51 per cent stake—in Air India and its subsidiaries. “The (process) is going on, guided by the Alternative Mechanism, but I will not fix any timelines to it, especially for the decisions made on such levels, Raju said.

Air India has been unprofitable since its 2007 merger with state-owned domestic operator Indian Airlines Ltd.  At the end of March 2017, the total debt of Air India was Rs 48,877 crore. Of the total debt, Rs 17,360 crore were aircraft loans and Rs 31,517 crore were working capital loans. The national carrier got a new lease of life in April 2012, when the then UPA government approved a Rs 30,000-crore turnaround and financial restructuring package spanning up to 2021.
18/01/18 New Indian Express
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