Air India to be 100 per cent disinvested to avoid closing down: Civil Aviation Minister

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri today clarified that the national carrier Air India would be disinvested completely.

"We've decided that Air India will be 100 per cent disinvested. The choice isn't between disinvestment and non-disinvestment. It's between disinvestment and closing down. Air India is a first-rate asset but has an accumulated debt of ₹ 60,000 crores. We need to draw the slate clean," Puri told the news agency ANI. "It must find a new home," he added.

Puri further added that prospective buyers could make their bids in the coming 64 days. He said, "In the last meeting, on Monday, it was decided that the shortlisted bidders (for Air India disinvestment) be informed that the bids have to come in within 64 days...This time the government is determined, and there is no hesitation." Though the government had floated an Expression of Interest for Air India in 2018 to sell off a 76 per cent stake and management control of the airline, it did not receive a single bidder, and the government currently owns 100 per cent equity of Air India. Several buyers had expressed interest in the airline the last month.

In the budget presented last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that Air India and Pawan Hans' disinvestment would be completed in the next financial year. 146 aircraft are currently up for sale, including 121 of Air India and 25 of Air India Express.