Three-pronged strategy finalised for Air India divestment

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has finalised a three-pronged strategy for the disinvestment of Air India. This involves the demerger and strategic disinvestment of three profit-making subsidiaries, hiving off certain assets into an SPV and the treatment of unsustainable debts of the ailing carrier. The three profit-making subsidiaries of the national carrier are Air India Express Limited, Air India Air Transport Services Limited and Air India’s joint venture with SATS Limited for ground handling activities in Delhi, Mumbai, Trivandrum and Bengaluru. The divestment process will be piloted by the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism comprising ministers of the finance, civil aviation, transport, railways, and power ministries. The committee will be responsible for developing a roadmap for treating the national carrier’s massive debt, and deciding which assets are to be incorporated in the “shell companies”. Besides, it will also take a decision on the quantum of disinvestment of the parent company and its subsidiarie.