No decision on Air India privatisation in haste: Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday said he was “not closed” to any idea including the possible privatisation of national carrier Air India. Mr. Raju is also expected to discuss the financial situation and working of Air India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon.

“There are private airlines and there is a public sector company. Public sector does have a place and a lot of countries have public sector companies. As of now, we are trying to formulate our views,” Mr. Raju said, hours after assuming office.

“I am not closed to any idea,” he said. When repeatedly asked whether the state-run carrier could be privatised, he said, “the state-run companies in several countries do function rather well. Somehow for us, it has not happened that way, but we have to examine all aspects.”

“Air India is a public sector undertaking. It has its pluses and minuses. To develop it,we have to look into things. We would neither hurry into things nor drag our feet,” he explained.
Air India had recorded a net loss of '5,198 crore in the financial year 2012-13 while the financial year 2011-12 had seen an even greater financial net loss for it of '7,559 crore. The airline began plummeting financially after the merger of the erstwhile international carrier Air-India and the erstwhile domestic carrier Indian Airlines in 2007.

The UPA government, in its second term, had earlier commenced a process of bailing out Air India through equity infusion to the tune of '30,000 crore over the next decade.
Air India sources had earlier said that with the “stabilisation” in Air India’s fortunes, given the huge financial backing of the previous UPA-2 government, the airline could eventually be privatised.
When asked about financial stress affecting private carriers as well and whether the government can take steps to tackle this, Mr. Raju said, “Let us see if anything the government can do.”