Explained: Air India disinvestment — what govt has on offer

Read | Not slaves to deadlines, but it will happen: Aviation minister on Air India disinvestment

Air India’s debt situation

Over the past two years, the government has allocated some part of Air India’s debt to a special-purpose vehicle and in this round of the disinvestment process, the buyer will have to take on Rs 23,286 crore of debt out of a total Rs 60,074 crore. Compared with this, in the last attempt, a potential buyer would have to take on Rs 33,392 crore of debt and current liabilities. The amount of debt being bundled with the airline in this attempt is towards the aircraft that are being sold off along with the carrier as part of the transaction. The working capital and other non-aircraft debt will be retained by the government.

Air India’s assets

The new owner will be taking on a fleet of 121 aircraft in Air India’s fleet and 25 planes in Air India Express’ fleet. These exclude the four Boeing 747-400 jumbojet aircraft that the airline plans to transfer to its subsidiary Alliance Air, which is not a part of the current transaction. However, like the last attempt, the properties currently in use by Air India, including the Nariman Point building and the company’s headquarters near Connaught Place in New Delhi will be retained by the government.

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