Air India employees to get salaries; sell-off is still a possibility: Government

NEW DELHI: Unpaid employees of Air India may soon get their April salaries. The government on Thursday said it will resume equity infusion into the airline — which was stopped after it had decided to sell it off — and that it will give guarantee for a Rs 1,000-crore loan to the Maharaja which banks had revoked after the unsuccessful divestment bid was announced last year.

While doing so, the Modi government has not given up hopes of selling off the debt-ridden airline in the remaining 11 months of its tenure. “Employee will be paid their salaries as the fund flow of government through equity infusion will begin and the loan guarantee (for Rs 1,000-crore) will be given,” said a senior aviation ministry official.

Asked about the failed divestment bid, the official said: “We are examining the failure and are in touch with the transaction advisor (Ernst & Young). If the government decides to go ahead with AI divestment by revising the original terms, then that process may still happen in its remaining term. But that is the government (read top political level’s) call now.”


The AI-specific group of ministers headed by finance minister was supposed to meet on Thursday but that meet was deferred as the stakeholders are evaluating why the bid failed to get even one offer and whether and how the terms of sale needs to be changed to hand over the Maharaja to a private player.

“If the government decides to pursue AI divestment, everything like revising bidding norms will be finalised soon. The transaction advisor will be retained if the sale course is being pursued by revising the offer,” the official said.

Asked if the government could look at selling entire 100 per cent in Air India, the official said, “We would look at simplifying some of the norms, but it would not be entirely different from what the thinking behind the disinvestment has been earlier.