Air India Air Transport Services Ltd, ...

Mumbai: Air India Ltd, which is in the process 
of restructuring its Rs. 18,000 crore debt
will induct strategic investors in two of its
subsidiaries, Air India Engineering Services
Ltd and Air India Air Transport Services Ltd.
being carved out of its engineering and 
ground-handling businesses, a civil aviation
ministry official said.


The two subsidiaries will start operations
by 1 April and strategic investors will be
brought into the companies in due course
said the official, who did not want to be
named. He declined to define a time frame
for the investors to be inducted.

By April, the Indian government will also infuse Rs. 1,200 crore
equity into the carrier. The aviation ministry is preparing the
ground for the Union cabinet to approve an equity infusion of 
Rs. 30,000 crore in Air India over the next 10 years and the airline
will receive Rs. 1,200 crore of this money in April. “This money will
be used to clear dues to oil marketing companies, the Airports
Authority of India and other vendors,” added the official.

He explained that the two subsidiaries will together accommodate
20,000 of the airline’s workforce of around 30,000. Employees will be
transferred without any change to the terms of their service
he said, adding that the subsidiaries would also recruit from the market.