Air India may raise loans against Rs 2,500 cr GoI guarantee

New Delhi: State-run Air India hopes to meet its fund requirements by raising loans against the government guarantee for Rs 2,500 crore and run its business smoothly till the sale process concludes.
“We have not decided on further loans from banks. We have the Government of India (GoI) guarantee for Rs 2,500 crore and if needed, we may raise some loans,” said a top Air India official wishing not to be named.
The airline has been put on the block by the government as part of its disinvestment target in FY20. A ministerial panel led by Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to decide the terms of sale in coming weeks.
As the disinvestment process is underway, the airline has been directed to freeze all appointments and hold on promotions. In the wake of the stake sale, fleet expansion is also on hold.
The airline has, however, expanded its network in the last few months, connecting more cities locally and internationally by bringing back its grounded airplanes into operations.
“We have not taken any new plane for adding flights. We are repairing the grounded aircraft and putting them back into operations. We have not incurred any major expenditure on it,” the official quoted above said.