Aviation Ministry reviews progress on Air India sale

New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) Moving fast on the proposed sale of Air India, the parent Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday reviewed the progress made by the airline on various aspects related to its strategic disinvestment.Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola chaired the meeting and directed Air India officials to complete the unfinished tasks related to financials and employees.Among the financial issues on the agenda of the meeting was preparation of business plan and transferring of debt to the SPV."The meeting touched upon various issues but no decision was taken," said an official source.Employee-related issues such as gratuity and leave encashment, free passage and treatment of employees on inter-entity deputation within the Air India group figured among key discussion points.After it failed to privatise the national carrier last year, the Modi government has made the disinvestment a priority now and plans to complete the task by the end of this financial year.Surviving on Rs 30,000 crore bail-out package cleared during UPA-II government in 2012, the airline is facing a tough financial challenge again.
--IANS nk/vd