Centre owes Air India nearly ₹500 crore for VVIP flights

Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that the government’s total dues on account of airfares for VVIP flights stood at ₹498.17 crore at the end of 31 December.

Various government departments owe divestment-bound Air India Ltd nearly ₹500 crore towards VVIP charter flights at a time the national carrier is struggling financially.

**EDS: FILE PHOTO** New Delhi: In this file photo dated Monday, March 2, 2020, Air India planes are parked at the IGI Airport in New Delhi. Tata Group is seeking to board Air India again after nearly seven decades, with the salt-to-software conglomerate set to participate in the bidding process for the national carrier. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)(PTI16-12-2020_000272B) (PTI)

Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that the government’s total dues on account of airfares for VVIP flights stood at ₹498.17 crore at the end of 31 December.

“Usually, the credit period for government of India departments varies from 15 to 30 days from the receipt of invoice and no interest is paid to Air India in case of non-payment within the credit period,” Puri said in the upper house of the parliament.

Air India has just borrowed ₹225 crore through a short-term loan facility from domestic lenders to refinance an earlier loan.

The total debt of Air India was ₹38,366.39 crore, according to the provisional figures for 2019-20. This was after an amount of ₹22,064 crore was transferred from the airline to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) Air India Assets Holding Ltd during 2019-20.

As of 31 March, 2020, the total net fixed assets of Air India stood at ₹45,863.27 crore, including land and buildings, aircraft fleet and engines, other fixed assets, right-of-use assets and intangible assets.