Government to support Air India's restructuring: Praful Patel

New Delhi, Oct 20 (ANI): Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday said the Government has agreed in principle to support Air India in its restructuring process.

Patel said that he would ask the ministerial group on civil aviation to immediately release funds for cash-strapped national carrier Air India as recommended by the committee of secretaries.

Talking to reporters here, Patel said: "The group of ministers on civil aviation sector headed by Pranab Mukherjee is meeting tomorrow. There are many challenges in this sector. The group of ministers has been constituted to address many of the issues, which are facing the sector, and of course Air India is also one of the issues. We would like to see as the government has broadly agreed in principle to support Air India in its restructuring process."

Last month, a committee of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary had cleared Rs.50 billion for Air India over the next three years, with a condition that the airline would cut costs and raise its revenue. (ANI)