Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Stating that he was aware of the woes of the state-run Air India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he has asked the ministerial group overseeing the turnaround of debt-ridden national carrier to come out with their recommendations fast.

“I will request (Finance Minister) Pranab Mukherjee to take expeditious decisions in the (Air India turnaround) matter,” Prime Minister Singh told a group of editors from the print media Wednesday.

Mukherjee heads the group of ministers (GoM) which is looking into the company’s turnaround plan prepared by global consultancy firm Delliote and SBI Caps.

The plan envisages further equity inclusion, conversion of short-term loans into long-term debt and hiving-off the company’s maintenance and ground-handling arms.

The prime minister’s comments on the flag carrier come at a time the airline is facing severe cash crunch and is unable to pay employees’ salaries and other dues to a host of agencies like oil companies and airport operators on time.

Currently the airline, which is laden with a cumulative debt of Rs.40,000 crore it incurred over aircraft acquisition and as short-term loans to maintain its operations, expects a fresh equity infusion of Rs.1,200 crore in July.

The cash-strapped carrier is also seeking a total infusion of Rs.17,000 crore, which includes Rs.5,000 crore for this fiscal year alone.

Earlier, the government had infused Rs.4,000 crore in the previous two fiscal year. The airline was also promised another tranche of Rs.2,000 crore this year in the federal budget.

The airline had posted a net loss of Rs.5,551 crore in 2009-10, a decrease from Rs.7,189 crore in 2008-09.