Mail Today Bureau New Delhi Last Updated: June 1, 2017 | 13:53 IST
The Union Cabinet will soon take a call on whether lossmaking Air India should be privatised with NITI Aayog suggesting that taxpayers' money being pumped into the airline can instead be used on health and education.
"The financial position of Air India is very bad. Niti Aayog's view is that government should spend money on health, education, instead of spending Rs 30,000 crore on Air India," a top government official said.
While details of the proposed privatisation were not clear, the possibilities of a strategic stake sale as well as outright disinvestments are under consideration.
The Civil Aviation Ministry is already looking into the recommendations made by NITI Aayog for the national carrier's revival.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had last week said Air India's disinvestment saying the carrier's market share is just around 14 per cent whereas the debt burden is Rs 50,000 crore.
Air India is staying afloat on a bailout package of little over Rs 30,000 crore extended by the previous UPA regime. It is working on ways to improve its financial position amid stiff competition.
Since merging with Indian Airlines, Air India has been in the red.
However, it posted an operational profit of Rs 105 crore on account of low fuel prices and increased passenger numbers in 2015-16.
The discussions on disinvestment have gathered momentum at a time when the CBI has registered three FIRs and a preliminary enquiry (PE) to go into the controversial decisions made by the erstwhile UPA government with regard to Air India, including surrender of profitable routes to favour private airlines.
