Fix an expiry date

Air India sale should not be allowed to drag indefinitely

The much-hyped disinvestment of Air India (AI) has come a cropper after a group of ministers decided to postpone the sale indefinitely. There was much hope a year ago when the Union cabinet approved in principle the sale, as many thought that the Narendra Modi-led government, which enjoyed a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, would be able to push through what coalition governments of the past could not. Today, those hopes have been belied. Taken together with other failed privatisation efforts such as the disinvestment of IDBI Bank, the Modi government’s track record on strategic sales has been below