Air India steps to raise money for turn around

Apart from leasing its headquarters building in Mumbai, cash-strapped Air India has identified some more properties to monitise them in order to raise Rs 5,000 crore as part of its turn around and financial restructuring plan, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said today.
Air India has identified land at Chennai, Coimbatore and Kolkata, residential plot at DLF Phase-III Gurgaon, a residential apartment in Kolkata and four unoccupied flats in Mumbai, Singh said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
He said the airline has leased four floors of its headquarters building at Nariman Point on an annual rent of Rs 14.4 crore. Air India is required to monitize its assets in India and abroad to raise Rs 5,000 crore over a period of 10 years, as per the TAP and FRP.

Singh also told the House that the national carrier has managed to earn an additional passenger revenue of Rs 680.13 crores and reduced its cash losses by Rs 1,125.50 crores as compared to the corresponding period (bewteen April and December) of the last fiscal.
Air India has earned an operating revenue of Rs 11,400.45 crore between Apirl and December 2012 while its operating expenses were Rs 13,954.47 crore, resulting in an operating loss of Rs 2,554.02 crores, Singh said, adding but AI turned EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation, Tax and Amortization) positive to the tune of Rs 48.75 crores.
He also said AI has withdrawn flights on Delhi-Toronto, Mumbai-Bangalore, Kolkata-Bhubaneshwar, Bhubaneshwar-Kolkata, Chennai-Vizag-Bhubaneshwar-Chennai, Chennai-Thiruvanathapuram, Thiruvanathapuram-Bangalore, Kolkata-Imphal and Imphal-Kolkata sectors.

Singh said the national carrier has paid Rs 340 crore, out Rs 515 crore dues, to Delhi International Airports Limited (DIAL) and Rs 81 crore to Hyderabad airport.
AI now owes Rs 175 crore to DIAL and Rs 36.67 crore from RGHIAL at Hyderabad, he added.