Ashok Gajapathi Raju to check Air India’s finances

New Delhi: Amid speculation that national carrier Air India could soon be privatised, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has asked Air India to submit a detailed presentation on its functioning, financial situation and roadmap for the future.

The presentation will be made to the new minister on Wednesday, sources said.

The minister had recently said that 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.

Air India had recorded a net loss of Rs 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 Rs 7,559 crore.

The airline had begun plummeting financially after the merger of the erstwhile international carrier Air-India and the  domestic carrier Indian Airlinesin 2007.

The UPA government, in its second term, had commenced a process of bailing out Air India through equity infusion to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore over the next decade.