Government to sell Air India properties owned by them

Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju met finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday to decide the process where Air India is planning to sell its properties and land parcels across the country. Sources privy to the discussions say the idea is to sell real estate assets in cities, airport locations, and airline offices at prime locations. "Air India has a vast bank of immovable properties, which have been accumulated over a period of time at various locations in India and abroad. Some of the properties are lying unused for a long time.

Air India has a total debt of Rs 46,570 crore. Of the total debt, around Rs, 16,000 crore is on account of aircraft loans, which were raised partially from Export-Import Bank of India, foreign institutions and through non-convertible debentures. The aircraft loans are guaranteed by the government. The remaining is working capital loan raised from a consortium of 25 banks led by State Bank of India. Air India performance has been good in terms of pure operational metrics over the last two years has done well. The debt issue has pinned them down; selling off non-core assets can be used to retire some of the debt burdens