Indian Government says its prepared to do whatever it takes to keep its national airline afloat including selling it off to private investors.
According to the country’s Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, they want Air India to survive and wouldn’t mind where it is, who runs it, as long as it serves the Indian people and the Indian skies.
Just like our own Kenya Airways, Air India has been making enormous losses over the years despite receiving a $4.5 billion bailout from the Indian government in 2012.
Mr Raju on CNN noted that they can’t commit the taxpayers’ money for eternity to keep the airline going.
According to CNN, Air travel in India is growing at a furious rate and the country is forecast to overtake the U.K. as the world’s third largest aviation market within the next decade.
This isn’t the first time the privatization of the airline has been suggested. Raju’s predecessor, Ajit Singh, hinted at it in 2013, but the idea was slammed by opposition parties.
