Air India likely to get Rs 1,200cr in Budget
Aamby Valley (Maharas-htra), Feb. 4: Air India expects to get an allocation of Rs 1,200 crore in the forthcoming Budget, the civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel, said on Thursday.
Mr Patel said he expected the process of equity infusion of Rs 800 crore into the airline by the government to be completed over the next eight to ten days.
On Wednesday, Patel had said in Delhi that while the infusion was likely to occur over the next few days, the government wanted Air India to take "extraordinary" measures for its turnaround.
"We are moving the Cabinet (for an equity infusion of Rs 800 crore), a note has already been circulated. I think by next week the Cabinet approval should come," Mr Patel had said after a meeting of the Group of Ministers formed to look after the revival of Air India.
Further assistance would only be given on achievement of specific revenue enhancement and cost reduction targets by the airline, the minister had said.
Air India has been under huge losses of over Rs 7,200 crore and owes Rs 16,000 crore. But, it has been able to capitalise on the overall boom in passenger numbers.
In the third quarter of the current financial year, it registered a 24.8 per cent increase in passenger numbers and a 14.4 per cent rise in load factor in the October-December period.
Total revenue increased by 3 per cent to Rs 3,852.1 crore from Rs 3,738.6 crore during the corresponding period last year.
The airline also brought down its quarterly operational losses by 25 per cent, to Rs 864.3 crore from Rs 1,152.4 crore during the same quarter last year. The net loss also showed a 9.7 per cent decline, to Rs 1,473.85 crore. — PTI
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