Govt working on Air India’s debt issue to make it more attractive to buyers

The government is working on the debt issue of national carrier Air India to make it more attractive to buyers, a top official said on Monday.

Civil Aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola indicated that the government’s decision to retain partial stake in the national carrier coupled with huge debt prevented potential investors to bid for the debt-ridden airline.

“We made an attempt last year. We learnt a few lessons and we are trying to work on that and improve at this point in time. The major lesson was that time we said that only 76 per cent of Air India will be disinvested and rest 24 per cent will be retained by the government.