Indians settled abroad can now buy India’s national carrier Air India as the government has allowed NRIs to own up to 100% stake in the airline. As the government desperately looks to offload its stake in the cash-strapped airline, it permitted NRIs to buy a complete stake in the airline as opposed to the earlier 49% limit, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday. The NRI investment will be treated as domestic investment and will not violate SOEC norms which state that any carrier that operates overseas should be owned by that country’s government or citizens. Earlier, the government had said that it does not want to keep its stake in the national carrier.
However, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in an airline still stands at 49% through the government approval route. 100% FDI is allowed only for scheduled domestic carriers, subject to certain conditions, according to existing norms.
