A decision on the fate of loss-making flag carrier Air India (AI) needs to be taken soon as the government is ?running against time?, aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Friday at the Express Group?s Idea Exchange programme.
?We have to take a decision. AI is losing all around and we are running against time. If you keep it going, there are problems, if you close it, there are other problems. Air India is like a patient in an ICU on ventilator. If the ventilator is removed, will the patient die or survive is a question. Before we take a decision, we don?t want to land up in a situation where we haven?t thought of all angles,? Raju said.
The minister underlined that all options for the airline are open, including the difficult call of a stake sale even though given its huge debts and losses it is unlikely to attract investors. AI, the third-largest domestic player with a 16.2% market share, currently has a debt of over Rs 45,000 crore (including working capital loans) and accumulated losses of Rs 30,000 crore. In FY14, it net loss stood at Rs 5,400 crore.
?We are not closing down any option. There is a financial restructuring plan and a turnaround plan ? the plans are plenty, and they are going into a tailspin. So the situation is definitely not good. In this situation, nobody (investors) will touch it with a barge pole,? Raju said.
He added that some of the AI?s problems are not its own making, but because it was pushed over the edge by the previous administration. ?We have given guidelines and probably these can be improved upon. We would like them to come out of the mess they have been pushed into by the powers that be. There were certain decisions taken that you probably wont find in any commercial organisation ? the aircraft purchases is one of them,? he said.