No plans to privatise Air India

NEW DELHI (INDIA: The Government of India today ruled out any proposal seeking to convert a part of Air India’s long-term borrowings into equity or privatising the airline.nnGovernment is not considering inducting banks as strategic investors in Air India or privatising the airline, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in Lok Sabha Sabha.nnEarlier, a section of media had reported that Air India had asked banks to recast its long-term debt of Rs 9,000 crore through the Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).nnAs part of the airline’s turnaround plan, the minister said till date Rs 24,723.74 crore have been released as equity support to Air India.nnAs part of the turnaround strategy for Air India, the company with the overall support of the government has initiated a number of steps in order to cut costs and losses, he said.nnThe airline has constantly been improving its operational and financial performance, he said, adding it posted an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in FY 2015-16, thereby advancing the turnaround plan target by two years.nnAir India revenue estimated to grow by 10 per cent: Govtnnir India’s revenue is expected to grow to Rs 22,521 crore this financial year, a rise of around 10 per cent as against last fiscal’s, on account of higher passenger earnings and increased capacity.nn”The national carrier is expecting a total revenue of Rs 22,521 crore as compared to Rs 20,526.11 crore in FY 2015-16, an increase of around 9.7 per cent over the previous year, Sinha said in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.nnThe Revenue Passenger Kilometers has improved by 6.8 per cent and Passenger Carriages improved by 6.2 per cent during the on-going fiscal as compared to the previous year, he said.nnThe Passenger Load Factor is also expected to increase by 1.2 per cent to 76.4 per cent in the current fiscal from 75.6 per cent in financial year 2015-16, he said.nnFurther, the utilisation of Boeing 777-200 LR has also improved to over 14 hours per day because of the introduction of Delhi-London and Bangalore-Delhi-San Francisco route, the Minister said.nnSource: Press Trust of India