Air India under PMO scrutiny

New Delhi: In a significant move, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has sought information on various issues relating to national carrier Air India including on whether it “can be revived/run without financial support from the government” and “why it could not make profits in the past”.

A senior civil aviation ministry official wrote to Air India CMD Rohit Nandan on February 25 asking for the information required by the PMO.

The official wanted the information to be provided by March 2 to meet the PMO’s “timeline”.

While the move has once again triggered speculation on whether the government plans any disinvestment of Air India, the government sources had made it clear recently that no such disinvestment of Air India was being planned.

The PMO has desired to provide the following information in respect of the following CPSEs of the ministry of civil aviation, including Air India.

It sought information on whether the aviation CPSEs can be revived and run without financial support from the government and also sought to know the reasons why it could not make profits in the past, whether there is any change in the business scenario favourable to the CPSE.