Air India garnered Rs 445 crore from land assets in 6 years

Air India has been able to mop up Rs 445 crore from monetisation of its land assets since 2012, the government informed Parliament today.

The amount collected by Air India so far is a tenth of the target that was set for it under the Turn Around Plan approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in 2012.

As per the plan, the national carrier had to monetise its assets and generate Rs 5,000 crore over a ten-year period until 2021 by way of sale, leasing or developing an asset as a joint venture.

"Air India has monetised a sum of Rs 445.31 crore from 2012-13 to 2017-18," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told Rajya Sabha in response to a question.

The minister explained that the national carrier was not able to meet its target because of problems with land titles.

Land title is a document that determines the ownership of land or an immovable property.

"Air India was unable to meet the target under the asset monetisation plan due to problem with land titles. The high value properties allotted to AI for specific purpose had end use restrictions and did not have clear marketable titles as they were allotted on perpetual lease basis," Sinha said.

The Union Cabinet had last year approved disinvestment of the national carrier and the government today said that "there is no decision to put land and building assets of the airline on sale at this stage".

The minister also listed the various "high value properties", which include two properties in New Delhi -- AI Housing Colony at Vasant Vihar and land at Baba Kharak Singh Marg-- and two residential plots for AI housing at Nerul in Mumbai which were allotted by CIDCO.

The properties of Air India which were monetised include six flats at Sterling Apartment in Mumbai sold to SBI at Rs 132 crore; vacant land at Coimbatore sold to NBCC at Rs 19.81 crore; vacant land returned to Economic Development Corporation government of Goa at Rs 2.50 crore and lease rental of Rs 291 crore from Air India Building at Nariman Point.

The Turn Around Plan also provides for financial assistance to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore over a ten-year period for the debt-laden Air India. Of this, the airline has already received more than Rs 26,000 crore.