Employees of Air India are likely to get their pending salary dues soon for June and July.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved a further equity infusion of Rs 1,200 crore in Air India.
“As Air India is passing through critical financial crunch, the equity induction would not only ease the cash flow situation of the company but would also preclude borrowings from the markets at high costs,” said an official statement.
Salaries soon
Cash-strapped Air India has not been able to pay its employees their full salary for some time.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had assured that payment of salary and perks at the earliest to over 30,000 Air India employees.
The Prime Minister assured that salaries, along with productivity-linked incentives for June and July, would be paid soon.
Air India's loss for 2011-12 is expected to be Rs 6,994 crore. It is seeking an upfront equity infusion of Rs 6,600 crore from the Government for immediate relief and another Rs 5,736 crore to fund cash deficits spread over 10 years till fiscal 2021.
Steel plant
The CCEA has cleared a proposal from the Steel Ministry to set up a steel plant in Sindri in Bihar. The proposed plant will have capacity of 5 million tonnes.
The plant will be set up at a defunct fertiliser unit. Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has been assigned to set up the plant.
It will also set-up a small fertiliser unit at the same location with an annual capacity of 1.15 mt.