ID :
192363
Fri, 07/01/2011 - 21:19
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/192363
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AI asks govt to pay Rs 173 crore in dues
New Delhi (PTI) - Faced with a Rs 40,000 crore
debt burden, Air India has urged the government to soon clear
some of its dues on account of VVIP and evacuation flights to
enable it disburse salaries to its staff this month.
While the government has already paid Rs 250 crore to
the ailing national carrier for carrying out VVIP duties and
flights to evacuate Indians from Libya and Yemen, officials
said another Rs 173 crore was expected soon.
They said some banks have also been approached to help
Air India to face the "real cash crunch" and pay the staff
salaries.
Government has made it clear that it attached "utmost
importance to the credible revival of Air India", with Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh saying he would ask Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee to take "expeditious decisions" to revamp the
ailing carrier.
It is expected that the government would take a
decision to infuse the third tranche of equity of Rs 1,200
crore soon. So far it has injected Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 800
crore in two tranches in 2009-10, raising the airline's equity
base to Rs 2,145 crore.
Government has acknowledged that Air India was
"passing through a difficult phase for the last few years", an
official spokesperson said today.
Soon after the merger of Indian Airlines and Air
India, the global economy went through a severe recession and
jet fuel prices hit an all time high. A highly competitive
aviation market made an early recovery all the more difficult.
All these factors resulted in losses during the last few
years.
The government has also asked the airline to prepare a
8 to 10-year-plan of resource generation to revamp itself by
fully implementing the turnaround programme.
According to the latest revival plan prepared by the
SBICaps, the airline would require an equity support of Rs
43,255 crore over next 10 years. Of this, Rs 8,372 crore would
be required in 2011-12, Rs 6,600 crore to meet immediate
requirements and Rs 1,772 crore to pay back aircraft loans.
The government was also considering early
operationalisation of the proposed subsidiaries for ground
handling and MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) so that
the issue of equity infusion can be taken up by the Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in the next few weeks.
Once the two subsidiaries are operationalised, the
airline would be able to transfer almost 19,000 of its 40,000
employees to them, officials said.
The airline has already floated the two companies
which are ready to be operationalised as soon as the
government nod is received, they said.
The two companies are Air India Engineering Services
Limited to carry out MRO operations and Air India Transport
Services Limited for ground handling. The officials claimed
that both subsidiaries would be able to earn profits right
from the first year itself.
The problem of integrating about 40,000 employees is
being dealt with by Justice Dharmadhikari Committee which
would address the long-pending human resource issues of the
airline in a time-bound manner.
debt burden, Air India has urged the government to soon clear
some of its dues on account of VVIP and evacuation flights to
enable it disburse salaries to its staff this month.
While the government has already paid Rs 250 crore to
the ailing national carrier for carrying out VVIP duties and
flights to evacuate Indians from Libya and Yemen, officials
said another Rs 173 crore was expected soon.
They said some banks have also been approached to help
Air India to face the "real cash crunch" and pay the staff
salaries.
Government has made it clear that it attached "utmost
importance to the credible revival of Air India", with Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh saying he would ask Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee to take "expeditious decisions" to revamp the
ailing carrier.
It is expected that the government would take a
decision to infuse the third tranche of equity of Rs 1,200
crore soon. So far it has injected Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 800
crore in two tranches in 2009-10, raising the airline's equity
base to Rs 2,145 crore.
Government has acknowledged that Air India was
"passing through a difficult phase for the last few years", an
official spokesperson said today.
Soon after the merger of Indian Airlines and Air
India, the global economy went through a severe recession and
jet fuel prices hit an all time high. A highly competitive
aviation market made an early recovery all the more difficult.
All these factors resulted in losses during the last few
years.
The government has also asked the airline to prepare a
8 to 10-year-plan of resource generation to revamp itself by
fully implementing the turnaround programme.
According to the latest revival plan prepared by the
SBICaps, the airline would require an equity support of Rs
43,255 crore over next 10 years. Of this, Rs 8,372 crore would
be required in 2011-12, Rs 6,600 crore to meet immediate
requirements and Rs 1,772 crore to pay back aircraft loans.
The government was also considering early
operationalisation of the proposed subsidiaries for ground
handling and MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) so that
the issue of equity infusion can be taken up by the Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in the next few weeks.
Once the two subsidiaries are operationalised, the
airline would be able to transfer almost 19,000 of its 40,000
employees to them, officials said.
The airline has already floated the two companies
which are ready to be operationalised as soon as the
government nod is received, they said.
The two companies are Air India Engineering Services
Limited to carry out MRO operations and Air India Transport
Services Limited for ground handling. The officials claimed
that both subsidiaries would be able to earn profits right
from the first year itself.
The problem of integrating about 40,000 employees is
being dealt with by Justice Dharmadhikari Committee which
would address the long-pending human resource issues of the
airline in a time-bound manner.
