Debt-laden Air India to sell assets worth nearly Rs250 crore

India's flag-carrier Air India, which is sitting on a debt pile of Rs40,000 crore, is planning to sell properties and land parcels worth nearly Rs250 crore spread across three cities, in a bid to monetise these assets.

The assets to be put on sale include four flats in Mumbai besides land parcels in Chennai and Coimbatore, said sources at the civil aviation ministry, adding that the ministry would soon move a cabinet note.

The flats in Mumbai are estimated to be worth more than Rs90 crore and the land parcel in Chennai is valued at over Rs120 crore, while the sale of land in Coimbatore is expected to fetch Rs20-30 crore, the official said.

Air India is surviving on a bailout package extended by the erstwhile UPA government in 2012.

The government had also approved a Rs 30,231-crore turnaround plan for the national carrier. The funding plan is staggered over several years.

The civil aviation ministry has, meanwhile, making efforts to secure about Rs2,400 crore for the national carrier through supplementary budgetary allocations and recovery of dues worth Rs600 crore related to use of its aircraft for VVIP travel.

Out of the proposed Rs30, 231 crore total, around Rs1,800 crore is being sought to meet the funding shortfall.

The ministry is pitching for additional funds for Air India, which was allocated Rs2,500 crore in the Budget 2015-16. The amount was well short of nearly Rs4,300 crore sought by the ministry.