Govt to infuse Rs 1,200 cr more equity in AI: PM

Ailing national carrier Air India (AI) is being restructured and the government will infuse Rs 1,200 crore as additional equity in the airline, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today.

The National Aviation Company of India (NACIL), which runs the national carrier, "is being restructured. A decision has been taken to infuse a sum of Rs 2,000 crore as equity in NACIL, out of which Rs 800 crore has already been released", he said in the Report to the People on completion of one year of the UPA's second term in office.

He said the new Indira Gandhi International Airport here was "soon going to be fully operational, well in time for the Commonwealth Games 2010".

The new airport has been "designed to cater to 100 million passengers per annum by 2036", he said, adding that the modernisation of 35 non-metro airports was under way.

Referring to the special developmental needs of the Northeastern states, the Prime Minister said the government has approved three greenfield airports for the region.

Of them, the one at Pakyong in Sikkim "is already under construction involving a cost of Rs 264 crore", he said.

The development of Tezu airport in Arunachal Pradesh at a cost of Rs 79 crore was approved in 2009-10.

"The project is being implemented by the Airports Authority of India. The airport will be ready for operations by March 2012," the Prime Minister said.