The Government has acknowledged that the aviation sector is facing turbulent times.
“We are running through a lot of turbulent weather, not only public sector but private sector is also crashing…Kingfisher is crashing and right now SpiceJet seems to be giving us harder times as far as airlines are concerned,” Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju said.
“We have somehow restricted the growth of airlines in the country. We have developed regulations that do not allow Indians to perform. We have to work ahead in this direction,” Raju said after the signing of an MoU between State carrier Air India and Navratna company NBCC for a joint venture to develop the airline’s surplus land parcels in the country.
The distressed carrier has been trying to sell its real estate assets to pay its debt. The MoU will be a non-binding, non-exclusive agreement and each land asset will be individually evaluated for a particular mode of monetisation process, said Air India Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan.
The process is expected to kickstart by identifying some land parcels in Chennai and Vasant Kunj in Delhi. The MoU has given three models of development of such properties.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved monetisation of assets in Air India to the tune of ₹5,000 crore over the next 10 years.
After signing the MoU, the shares of NBCC ended 5.47 per cent higher at ₹877.60 at the BSE on Thursday.