New Delhi: The privatisation of Air India could possibly be one of the major disinvestment moves of the Modi government. The UPA government, in its second term, had earlier commenced a process of bailing out Air India through equity infusion of Rs 30,000 crore over a decade.
Well-placed Air India sources acknowledged that the airline could well be privatised in the near future since it was becoming increasingly “complex” for the government to be running an airline. Sources said that with the “stabilisation” in Air India’s fortunes, given the huge financial backing of the UPA-2 government, the airline could eventually be privatised. There is talk in saffron corridors that Mr Arun Shourie, who was heading the department of disinvestment (DoD) in the Vajpayee government, could play a key role in possible disinvestment moves by Mr Modi.
Air India had recorded a net loss of Rs 5,198 crore in the financial year 2012-13 while the financial year 2011-12 had seen an even greater net loss Rs7,559 crore. The airline began plummeting financially after the merger of the erstwhile international carrier Air-India and the domestic Indian Airlines in 2007.
In fact, even outgoing civil aviation minister Ajit Singh had said last year that Air India can be privatised if the “public, government and Parliament agree”. While UPA-2, at the start of its tenure, had been firm that the national carrier would not be privatised, a rethink appeared to have begun in certain sections in the last year of the government’s tenure.
Read news in full 24/05/14 Sanjay Basak And Sridhar Kumaraswami/Asian Age
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