Amid Air India crisis Praful meets PM

NEW DELHI: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is understood to have discussed the crisis facing national carrier Air India.

Patel met Singh days ahead of the first meeting of the high level committee, set up to vet a turnaround plan prepared by the the airline, official sources said

Faced with an average monthly loss of Rs 250 crore, the airline is seeking a soft loan of Rs 3,000 crore besides equity infusion. According to sources, the airline has so far borrowed about Rs 16,000 crore from 17 banks as overdraft and the interest liability on them is estimated at about Rs 4 crore a day.

A Committee of Secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, would be studying the airline's proposals and plans to cut costs and enhance savings.