Air India disinvestment to be completed in 2021-22

New Delhi: Disinvestment of Air India and Pawan Hans would be completed in 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday while presenting the Union Budget in which Rs 3,224 crore has been allocated to the Civil Aviation Ministry for the next fiscal year. Air India is currently undergoing disinvestment process. Multiple entities submitted their expression of interest (EOI) for the carrier in December.

The government is likely to reveal the names of qualified bidders in the coming weeks. Air India Asset Holding Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), was set up in 2018 as part of the financial restructuring of the debt-laden national carrier. In the Budget for 2021-22, Rs 2,268 crore is proposed to be allocated for the SPV. The debt of Air India, as of March 31, 2019, was Rs 58,255 crore. Making another attempt to exit from the chopper operations business, the government in December last year issued a fresh bid document for strategic disinvestment in Pawan Hans.

Sitharaman said in her budget speech that the disinvestment of Air India and Pawan Hans would be completed in 2021-22. In the Union Budget for 2021-22, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been allocated Rs 3,224 crore which is 22 percent lower than Rs 4,131 crore that was allocated for the current fiscal. The budget last year had allocated Rs 3,797 crore to the ministry for 2020-21 but in the revised estimates it increased to Rs 4,131 crore. The government on Monday allocated Rs 600 crore, 14.28 percent lower than the current fiscal, for regional connectivity scheme Udan for 2021-22.