Air India has sought proposals for short-term loans worth Rs 1,000 crore to meet urgent working capital requirements, PTI reported on Friday. The airline has not paid salaries to nearly 11,000 employees over the past three months.
The national carrier has invited bids from financial institutions and banks to be submitted by June 13. The Rs 1,000 crore loan will be drawn in June in one or more tranches, IANS reported quoting a tender document issued by Air India on Wednesday.
“The tenure of the loan will be for one year (renewable) from the date of availing the [short-term loans],” the bid document said, according to IANS. “The government of India guarantee is presently valid for one year.
The airline’s move seeking loans come just a week after the government failed to attract any bids for the sale of its 76% stake in Air India before the May 31 deadline.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday said that the Group of Ministers the Centre has appointed to manage the Air India disinvestment process will decide the future course of action, as no initial bids were received for the proposed stake sale, reported PTI.
Prabhu said that all alternatives will be discussed by the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism headed by Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley.
In January, the government decided to divest 76% stake in Air India, ignoring a parliamentary panel’s recommendation to give the debt-ridden airline five years to revive itself. Air India has not earned profits since it was merged with the state-owned domestic operator Indian Airlines in 2007. The company made an operating profit of Rs 298 crore in the last financial year through March 2017 but still posted a net loss of Rs 5,765.16 crore.
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