India's Maharaja - Air India - will get a buyer?

Top Stories

Air India planes are parked on the tarmac at the Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India.
Air India planes are parked on the tarmac at the Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India.

The airline is now saddled with a problem if it should sell completely or partly.

By Staff Report

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Tue 11 Jul 2017, 8:00 PM

Last updated: Tue 11 Jul 2017, 11:06 PM

The Air India - founded in the 1930s has a debt burden of $8.5 billion due to poor management and loss-making operations, which could only get worse with time if not curbed now.
The airline is now saddled with a problem if it should sell completely or partly. The proposal has been termed 'complex' to sell the stake.
Below are some facts about the Indian loss-making airline:
$3.6b injected
The government has injected $3.6 billion since 2012 to bail out the airline. With six subsidiaries - three of which are loss-making -  it has assets worth about $4.6 billion. It has an estimated $1.24 billion worth of real estate, including two hotels, where ownership is split among various government entities.
Market share going down
Market share has slumped to 13 per cent due to competition from private carriers such as InterGlobe Aviation's IndiGo and Jet Airways.
Sale idea opposed
Labour union that represents 2,500 of the airline's 40,000 employees has opposed the idea of a sale.
Final plan in the offing
A committee of five senior federal ministers, led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, is expected to meet this month and begin ironing out the finer details of the plan and analysts say the government may prefer to keep the airline in Indian hands. 
Tata, IndiGo show interest
Government may take a call on the carrier's debt, demerger and divestment of its three profit-making subsidiaries. Tata Sons conglomerate and IndiGo - have shown early interest
 


More news from