Government Asks Air India To Submit A Plan To Fund Their Debt!

The government has asked Air India to submit a plan of funds needed to support the airline, after the sale of the national carrier failed last month.

A committee of airline directors has been set up within Air India to make this plan, which will be headed by Air India Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Pradeep Singh Kharola.

This committee, will also take a call on the airline’s fleet requirement for the future. For now, all the existing orders have been fulfilled and the airline does not have any pending orders for airplanes.

The airline has recently received a short-term loan of Rs 2200 crores from the government to meet its working capital requirements after Air India failed to pay its employees for the 3rd month in a row in May.

Apart from this, Air India-Specific Alternate Mechanism(AISAM) has been set up by the government to review the airline’s operations and its disinvestment process. This committee will be headed by Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley.

Mr Jayant Sinha, Minister Of State For Civil Aviation, told the reporters on Wednesday, that they will not be selling the airline for now, however, the government is dedicated to the strategic disinvestment of the airline, which may happen in the future.

This was the first time since May 31^st , that a minister had spoken in an open forum about the status of Air India disinvestment.

Both, Mr. Sinha and Union Civil Aviation Minister Mr. Suresh Prabhu, felt that the airline is suffering from legacy issues in terms of the huge debt burden that the airline has to cater to.

Pointing out that Air India is the national flag carrier and has an important role to play in the nation’s aviation sector, Mr. Prabhu said that the government will do everything to ensure its success and progress.