Air India Limited owes about Rs 500 crore to various government departments, while the air line is already struggling financially.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that as of December 31, 2020, the airline owed Rs 498.17 crore in the form of air fares to various government departments, including arrears for ‘VVIP operations’.
Puri said, “Usually the credit period of the Government of India departments is from 15 to 30 days from the receipt of the challan and in the event of non-payment within the credit period, no interest is paid to Air India”
Air India has borrowed 225 crores from domestic lenders through short-term loan facility to meet earlier loans.
As of FY 2019-20 provisional figures, Air India’s total debt was Rs 38,366.39 crore. Puri said, “The above amount is after loan transfer of Rs 22,064 crore for Special Loan Vehicle (SPV) of Air India Assets Holding Limited during FY 2019-20”.
As of March 31, 2020, Air India had a total net worth of 45,863.27 crore, including land and buildings, aircraft fleet and engines, other fixed assets, right-of-way assets and intangible assets.
