Government mulls Rs 11,000 crore bailout for Air India

MUMBAI: The Civil Aviation Ministry is in discussions with the Finance Ministry for a Rs 11,000 crore bailout package for ailing Air India, sources said.

The discussions come against the backdrop of a failed effort to privatise the loss-making airline, which continues to grapple with financial woes. Sources in the know said that the Civil Aviation Ministry is working on a bailout package for the carrier, which would be utilised to reduce high cost working capital loans.

The proposal, which is at a preliminary stage of discussions, is for providing around Rs 11,000 crore package to Air India, they added. “Cleaning up the balance sheet of Air India airline will make it attractive for investors as and when the government decides to once again attempt strategic stake sale of the airline,” one of the sources said.


Query sent to Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey remained unanswered. When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said the matter “comes under the domain of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and we should not be commenting on it”.