Government open to Strategic Disinvestment in Air India -Finance Minister

Government open to Strategic Disinvestment in Air India -Finance Minister (Hindi Version Included)

NEW DELHI – Finance minister Arun Jaitley has said that the government is open to the idea of inducting a strategic partner in Air India and the civil aviation ministry was exploring all possible options for the ailing state-run airline.

This is the first clear comment from the government about the future of Air India.

“Today they have a market share of 14% and a debt of Rs 50,000 crore. Your money does not go into private sector airlines such as Indigo, Spicejet, Go Air, Jet Airways then why should you put Rs 50,000 crore in running Air India? Government money means your money. This money can be used for education,” Jaitley said during a panel discussion on Doordarshan News.

When asked about the government’s strategy to deal Air India, the finance minister said that if a good management comes forward, government will consider disinvestment. Jaitley explained that of Rs 50,000 crore debt, nearly Rs 25,000 crore is the value of aircraft. The airline also has some other assets. The civil aviation ministry is exploring all options. “If 86% of the flying can be handled by the private sector they can handle 100% also,” Jaitley said.

The FM also said that strategic sales in state run firms will gather pace in the next two years. “Let there be no misunderstanding that we are going slow on disinvestments. Leaving some sectors where the presence of the government is necessary, the role of the private sector in other sectors is very large,” Jaitley said. The Modi government had promised to push ahead with strategic disinvestment, which involves ceding management control, when it swept to power in May 2014 but the process has made limited progress.

The Vajpayee government had made efforts to sell a stake in Air India and the then disinvestment minister Arun Shourie had promised to push ahead with a strategic sale even if one bidder was in the fray. But the plans fell through and Air India continued as a state-run entity.

Estimates suggested that air India has liabilities of over Rs 52,000 crore, with the interest burden alone estimated at Rs 4,000 crore a year. While Rs 25,000 crore has been pumped in over the last five years, a similar amount has been committed till 2032.

A large part of the blame is on the way the national carrier was operated during 2005-07 when an aircraft acquisition plan of Rs 50,000 crore. The airline’s turnover was around Rs 15,000 crore. That put Air India under a severe debt burden.

On political opposition to closing down Janpath hotel, Jaitley said: “Running hotels is not the business of the government. In Connaught place there is a hotel on 4 to 5 acres of land and even 10% of the rooms are not occupied. Tt is rented out to only government offices. Are we running hotels in this manner? It’s a farce,” he said.

Hindi Version

नई दिल्ली । सरकार एयर इंडिया के परिचालन से बाहर निकलने की योजना बना रही है। यह जानकारी केंद्रीय वित्त मंत्री अरुण जेटली ने दी है। जेटली ने एक साक्षात्कार के दौरान बताया, “जेट एयरवेज, इंडिगो, गोएयर जैसी कई निजी विमानन कंपनियां हैं। अगर 86 फीसद विमानन बाजार निजी क्षेत्र संभाल सकता है तो वह 100 फीसद को भी चला सकता है।”

आपको बता दें कि राष्ट्रीय यात्री विमानन कंपनी एयर इंडिया की बाजार हिस्सेदारी 14 फीसदी है। हालांकि उस पर 50,000 करोड़ रुपये का कर्ज भी है। जेटली ने बताया, “एयर इंडिया पर 50,000 करोड़ रुपये का कर्ज है, जबकि उसके विमानों का मूल्यांकन 20,000-25,000 करोड़ रुपये होगा। नागरिक विमानन मंत्रालय भी निजीकरण की सभी संभावनाएं तलाश रहा है।”

नागरिक विमानन राज्यमंत्री जयंत सिन्हा ने इससे पहले जानकारी दी थी कि एयर इंडिया के कर्जों को कम करने की और इसमें वित्तीय बदलाव के लिए बैलेंस शीट के पुर्नगठन की तत्काल जरूरत है। सिन्हा ने उस वक्त कहा था, “एयर इंडिया में कॉरपोरेट प्रशासन और बेहतर प्रबंधन को लागू करने की भी जरूरत है। इसके अलावा यह भी देखा जाना चाहिए कि एयर इंडिया की गैर-महत्वपूर्ण संपत्तियों का किस प्रकार से बेहतर तरीके से इस्तेमाल में लाया जा सकता है।”

Source: TOI