Air India sale: Govt to process NITI Aayog report on it, says Arun Jaitley

Sources say NITI recommended strategic disinvestment by transfer of control from govt to pvt owner

The NITI Aayog has given its recommendations on the government disinvesting stake in Air India to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which will take a decision on the matter, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.

"The Niti Aayog has given its recommendations to the Civil Aviation Ministry, which will decide on the process of disinvestment in Air India," Jaitley said in response to a query on the issue at a briefing in New Delhi on the three years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

According to sources, the NITI Aayog in a recent report has recommended strategic disinvestment from the loss-making Air India, by which government control would be transferred to a private owner.

 

Air India officials said the national carrier has an accumulated debt of around Rs 60,000 crore, which includes around Rs 21,000 crore of aircraft-related loans and around Rs 8,000 crore working capital.