Govt allocates additional Rs 51,971 cr to settle Air India’s debt

Following successful disinvestment, the government on Tuesday allocated an additional Rs 51,971 crore towards the settlement of outstanding guaranteed liabilities of Air India in the Union Budget. This amount has been accounted in the revised estimates of total expenditure in 2021-22.

Of the total allocation of Rs 51,971 crore, the government has allocated Rs 9,259 crore to Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL), a government-owned special purpose vehicle set up to handle Air India’s debt and non-core assets, for the next financial year starting from April 1. Air India Assets Holding Limited (AIAHL) was set up in 2019.

“The provision (of Rs 9,259 crore) is kept for servicing of loan transferred to special purpose vehicle as a result of financial restructuring of Air India,” the Budget document said.