Air India looks to raise ₹500 crore through sale of land assets in FY19
Divestment bound national carrier Air India has targeted to raise ₹500 crore by selling land and real estate properties in 2018-19, and is likely to sell some of its prime properties across the country, two senior officials of the airlines said.
The airline is looking to sell several of its land blocks and real estate including a 4 acre land at Delhi’s Baba Kharak Singh Marg, residential colony at Vasant Vihar, a piece of land in Chennai, and a half acre plot in Mumbai’s Pali Hill that houses about 14 apartments, one of the officials said.
“While some of the properties will be sold by Air India, the central government will sell other properties that were leased by the airline (from the government),” the second official said adding that the government has identified several Air India properties it could sell on behalf of the airline that were earlier leased from the government for a long term.
Air India has been able to mop up ₹445 crore in land monetisation since the government approved Turn Around Plan (TAP) in 2012 set a target of ₹5,000 crore for land monetisation over a period of 10 years, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha told Rajya Sabha in February. Sinha had said that the airline was not able to achieve its land monetisation targets due to issues with land title deeds.
Most title deeds for properties that the airline is looking to sell during 2018-19 are in place, the second Air India official mentioned above said, adding that several public sector companies have enquired about its properties.
“The airline will not need a cabinet approval to sell its land to public sector companies, while a cabinet nod would be required if properties were to be sold to private companies,” the official added.
The union government, which plans to divest Air India by December, plans to create a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to house the airlines working capital debt (about ₹35,000 crore), and some land assets like the former headquarter Nariman Point building and hotels run by the airline.
MUMBAI: