Government to prepare fresh proposal for sale of Air India

The Finance Ministry is gearing up to come up with a fresh proposal for the sale of national carrier, Air India incorporating issues like crude oil prices and currency exchange rate volatility. The government had failed in its attempts to sale the assets of the airline last year. The proposal to be placed before Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) will also include option of selling either 100 per cent stake in the airline or government’s 76 per cent stake in Air India.

The AISAM, which is basically a Group of Ministers, generally constitutes the Finance Minister, Civil Aviation Minister and the Transport Minister.

After the government failed to find any buyer for the debt-ridden carrier last year, it decided to infuse more funds into the airline and take steps to lower debt of Air India by selling its subsidiaries and non-core assets.

The government has already asked Air India to finalise its accounts for 2018-19 by June 30.