New Delhi:
At a time when Air India is in troubled waters with losses to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore in just one year, many would believe disinvestment is the key to reviving the airline. But that's something the government is opposed to at this point.
Speaking to NDTV''s Prannoy Roy, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Air India will continue to remain a national carrier.
NDTV: Sir, one more issue about the Air India merger, you know recently it has come under criticism by a group in Parliament that was looking into it, but mergers, assessing them is a very technical business. Everybody feels that did this group really have the know-how to assess whether a merger is working or not.
Praful: Well, I agree with you. I do concede that the merger could have been better executed and implemented. There has been even, I would say, kind of a sabotage of sorts from within. People not really wanting to see it being implemented well, but the basic concept, this has, you know, been going on since the time of JRD Tata and a couple of times in between, the government did attempt, well meaning people, all have, especially when it makes business sense, economic sense and technical sense, I think there is no two opinions about whether the merger was required or not.
In fact, even when this government took a decision, it first went to a committee of secretaries, it went to a group of ministers, it was guided by a professional company like Accenture and it was not taken like a knee-jerk decision. It was well thought out, well-planned, and it made immense economic sense. Well, I don't want to comment on the people who have given a different opinion, it's for them to judge. But, I can certainly say that the government took a conscious decision, based on valid and sound technical inputs and I think the intentions were good and maybe the execution has not been up to the government's or people's expectations.
NDTV: ...could have been better. I've got to ask you, will disinvestment of Air India ever happen?
Praful: Well, I cannot speak about policy until some decision is taken by the government, but I can only say a personal little bit of an opinion, that most national carriers across the world have not done very well. Considering that, Air India has still come a long, long way...has been able to retain its position as a national carrier.
Of course, competition is there, it's not easy for them. I can only say that, some day maybe, government may take a different decision. But as of today, as of now, we intend to run it as a national carrier, run state owned, and we will do our best to do whatever is necessary.