New Delhi, Nov 28: Seeking to turnaround ailing Air India, Government is considering a nearly Rs 30,000 crore package for the national carrier over a period of 10 years, official sources said tonight.
According to the proposal, government is considering writing off Rs 4,500 crore cash loss of Air India, infusing additional equity of Rs 6,750 crore and Rs 17,000-18,000 crore for its fleet acquisition programme.
The bailout package is expected to roll-out over a period of 10 years, the sources said after a two-hour meeting of official from the Civil Aviation Ministry, Air India and representatives of lenders-a consortium of 14 banks led by SBI.
The lenders gave a “broad approval” to the debt restructuring plan of the cash-strapped carrier after getting the green signal from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week, the sources said.
The Cabinet note, taking cognisance of the entire bailout package, will be prepared by the Civil Aviation Ministry in the “next few days”.
This crucial meeting came a day ahead of the meeting of the Air India Board here.
The total debt of Air India, consisting of aircraft loans and working capital loans aggregate Rs 43,777.01 crore.
The working capital loan is Rs 21,511.10 crore while the aircraft loan is Rs 21,412.06 crore, latest figures show.
The bank representatives are understood to have sought clarifications on certain regulatory issues from the RBI, the sources said, adding that they wanted to become part of a proposed committee to be set up to monitor the implementation of Air India's overall turnaround plan.
