The government plans to soon initiate the strategic sale process for at least four subsidiaries of loss-making Air India, including Airline Allied Services Ltd (AASL) and Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), according to officials.
Besides, plans are on the anvil for selling the headquarter building of Air India in the national capital as well as various other land assets and buildings of the airline in different parts of the country.
The government has prepared a list of the airline’s assets that could be hived off as part of the strategic sale plan for Air India and its subsidiaries, officials said.
According to them, the disinvestment process is likely to be initiated soon for four Air India subsidiaries — AASL, HCI, Air India Air Transport Service Ltd (AIATSL) and Air India Engineering Service Ltd (AIESL).
While AASL, under the name Alliance Air, provides regional air connectivity, HCI owns and operates two hotels in Delhi and Srinagar, among others.
The national airline is staying afloat on a bailout package extended by the previous UPA regime in 2012 and the government is also looking at ways to infuse more funds into the carrier.
For the current fiscal, the government expects to raise Rs 80,000 crore from strategic as well as minority stake sales in public sector enterprises.
So far this fiscal, the government has raised over Rs 9,220 crore by divesting stakes in state-owned companies.
