On Air India, here is what Narendra Modi govt has decided

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had in-principle approved the consideration for strategic disinvestment of Air India & its five subsidiaries. An Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) was constituted by CCEA for this, said a government statement today. 

In an AISAM Meeting held on 28th March 2018, the statement said, it was decided that due to issues like volatile crude oil prices & adverse fluctuations in exchange rates, the atmosphere was not conducive for the disinvestment. But this was last year. However, continued support from the govt had resulted in improvement of financial and operational performance of Air India. As per the recommendations of AISAM, the govt will now go ahead with the process of disinvestment of the company, it added.

Notably, DIPAM Secretary Atanu Chakraborty also said that Air India disinvestment is on track, in a tweet on Thursday night. He tweeted "On June 18, 2018, taking note of circumstances in which no bid was received on EOI/PIM floated on March 28, 2018, for strategic disinvestment of Air India, AISAM (Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism) categorically stated `govt remains committed to the strategic disinvestment of AI and its subsidiaries`." 

In another tweet, Chakraborty said, "It may be noted that the disinvestment of one of the subsidiaries of AI, AIATSL got underway with its EOI/PIM published on 12.2.2019," Chakraborty's tweet came in the form of a clarification to correct comments earlier in the day by Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who told Parliament that conditions were still not right to attempt another sale.

On Thursday, Puri told Parliament, "The present environment is not conducive to stimulate interest amongst investors for strategic disinvestment of Air India in the immediate ne ar future," adding that the government would revisit the sale once global economic conditions become more favourable. The Ministry also issued a statement to correct the comments. 

The Ministry stated, "Continued support from the government has resulted in improvement of financial and operational performances of Air India. As per the recommendations of the AISAM, the government will now go ahead with the process of disinvestm ent of the company." 

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Last year, the disinvestment plan for Air India to sell a 76 per cent stake had failed due to a lack of interest from bidders. The government had then stated that it would return with an alternative proposal soon. In a meeting on June 28, 2017, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had in-principle approved the consideration for strategic disinvestment of Air India and its five subsidiaries.

In a written response to a question, Puri told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the total debt of Air India as on March 31, 2019 amounted to Rs 58,351 crore.