The civil aviation ministry has told Air India that it should prepare 2018-19 financials for itself and its subsidiaries by end of June as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has decided to speed up the disinvestment process of three of its wings, according to an official document. After a botched attempt to sell Air India in May last year, a panel led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had decided in June to scrap the stake-sale plan for the time being. It was then decided to infuse more funds into the carrier and cut down debt by raising resources by selling land assets and other subsidiaries.
Air India has a total debt burden of around Rs 55,000 crore. On April 1 this year, a meeting was held in the PMO under the chairmanship of Nripendra Misra, the principal secretary to the prime minister, to discuss matter regarding strategic disinvestment of Air India and its subsidiaries.
