Government to sell properties leased to Air India

The government has reportedly decided to sell a number of Air India’s real estate in order to speed up its divestment. This announcement came soon after it found that some of the properties were in fact not owned by the state carrier but were on a 99-year lease from the government. Therefore, as per reports, the assets originally owned by the government will go back to it, who will then sell these properties on Air India’s behalf. According to reports, two such assets located in Delhi have been identified. A 4-acre land near Connaught Place and a residential colony in Vasant Vihar are owned by the Urban Devclopment Ministry, and will therefore be sold in order to clear debt. The residential colony in Vasant Vihar will reportedly be handed over to NBCC for redevelopment. Other options are also being explored to restructure the carrier’s debt, such as sale of subsidiaries, as per reports. A committee led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is considering various models which can be applied. In 2012, Air India was supposed to monetise its assets to repay its debt, but the carrier was only able to generate around Rs 1,000 crore in the process.