Govt offers Rs 30,000 crore bailout package for Airlines

New Delhi, Nov 29: The UPA government is thinking of a close to Rs 30,000 crore bailout package for the national carrier, Indian Airlines over a period of 10 years, claimed official sources.

The government is considering writing-off Rs 4,500 crore cash loss of Air India, infusing an additional equity of Rs 6,750 crore and Rs 17,000-18,000 crore for its fleet acquisition programme.

Sources claimed that the Civil Aviation Ministry, Air India and representatives of lenders - a consortium of 14 banks led by the State Bank of India, declared the bailout package after the two-hour meeting.

Last week, the lenders had received a green signal from the Reserve Bank of India, after that it gave a broad approval to the debt restructuring plan of the cash-strapped carrier, sources said.

The Civil Aviation Ministry will prepare the bailout package within few days.

According to the latest figures, Air India's aircraft loans and working capital loans have incurred a total debt of Rs 43,777.01 crore, while the working capital loan is Rs 21,511.10 crore and aircraft loan is Rs 21,412.06 crore.

The bank representatives are believed to have made clarifications on certain regulatory issues from the RBI. They wanted to be part in the proposed committee that is to be set up to monitor the implementation of Air India's overall turnaround plan, added sources.

OneIndia News