Air India likely to get Rs 1200 crore as additional equity

New Delhi, Jun 23: Ailing Air India is likely to get an additional equity infusion of Rs 1,200 crore with a Group of Ministers (GoM) deciding on Wednesday (Jun 22) late night to bring a proposal on the issue soon.

"The GoM will bring a proposal to release Rs 1,200 crore of equity and place it before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs within a short time-frame", Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said after a 90-minute meeting of the ministerial group headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

"At the first meeting of the GoM, it was also decided to set up a committee to examine the turnaround and financial restructuring plans of Air India and submit its report within six weeks to the GoM for a review," he said.

This committee would also examine the plan to restructure its massive debt of Rs 40,000 crore, sources said.

"A Committee of Secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary A K Seth, would be established to look into the financial claims submitted by Air India to the government for carrying out VVIP flights and evacuation of people from various countries in the recent past," Ravi said.

The CoS would have Secretaries of Economic Affairs, Expenditure, Civil Aviation, Financial Services and representatives of the Planning Commission.

The decisions were taken in view of the precarious financial situation of the national carrier and expeditious steps need to save it from a virtual bankruptcy.

Besides Mukherjee and Ravi, the meeting was attended among others by Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Cabinet Secretary A K Seth, Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi and Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav.

PTI