Air India will never meet the fate of defunct Kingfisher Airlines, said Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Nobody wants anyone to become unemployed. We don't want Air India to go the Kingfisher (Airlines) way. We want Air India to serve the nation, to serve the people and fly high," Raju said.
To serve the purpose, the government has already started the disinvestment process of Air India. A ministerial committee headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is looking into the disinvestment of Air India. MPs are also welcome to give their suggestions to this panel, the Aviation Minister said.
In June this year, Union Cabinet had cleared the disinvestment of debt-ridden Air India, but the final modalities, including the quantum of stake sale, would be decided by a group of ministers headed by the Finance Minister.
Surviving on taxpayers' money, Air India has been in the red for long and various proposals, including government think-tank Niti Aayog's recommendation for complete privatisation, have been made.
The airline has a debt amounting to more than Rs 52,000 crore, and is surviving on the Rs 30,000 crore bailout package extended by the erstwhile UPA government in 2012.
The Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003 by liquor baron Vijay Mallya. The air carrier was suspended by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation after it failed to address the regulator's concerns about its operations.
Kingfisher Airlines also defaulted on loans from various Indian banks amounting to Rs 9,000 crore and Mallya fled to UK and CBI and ED has registered a case against him.
DISINVESTMENT
- In June 2017, Cabinet had cleared the disinvestment of debt-ridden Air India, but the final modalities, including the quantum of stake sale, are yet to be decided by a panel.
