Privatization of Air India- Third time's a charm
“History repeats itself” I n 2017, the airline continued making losses, and its debt ballooned to Rs 50,000 crores while it continued to lose significant domestic and international market share. Yet again, the government set out to privatize Air India despite failing in 2000. In March of 2018, they issued an expression of interest to sell a 76 percent stake of the perennially loss-making airline and also a 50 percent stake of Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd, a ground handling joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services. T his attempt at privatization asked the bidders to take on Rs 33,392 crores worth of debt and submit a bid by the month of May 2018. It isn’t surprising that no private firms showed any interest in buying the debt-laden airline. H istory had repeated itself. The government had classically failed to privatize Air India. Although the Airline was massively failing, it was undeniable that Air India had somehow become a symbol of ‘national pride’. T...