Centre Settles Over Rs 61,000 Crore Air India Debt Before Transfer To Tatas
NDTV
Tata Group was in October last year announced as the winning bidder for Air India with a bid amount of Rs 18,000 crore.
The government has settled over Rs 61,000 crore of Air India's legacy debt and other liabilities that were left in AIAHL -- the company holding residual assets and liabilities of the airline -- ahead of the transfer of the national carrier to the Tata Group, a top official said on Thursday.
The airline had a total debt of Rs 61,562 crore as of August 31, 2021. Of this, the Tata Group took over Rs 15,300 crore and the rest 75 per cent or around Rs 46,000 crore was transferred to a special purpose vehicle, AI Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL).
AIAHL also held Air India's non-core assets such as stake in Hotel Corp of India (HCIL), paintings and artifacts and immovable properties.
In an interview with PTI, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) -- which ran the Air India privatisation process -- said Parliament had last month given nod for spending of Rs 62,057 crore towards equity infusion in AIAHL for repayment of dues and liabilities of Air India.
