INTERVIEW: Scindia assures Air India will regain lost place; Wishes new owners

A day after the Tatas officially took over Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has now said that a historical wrong step has been corrected. In an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times, Scindia wished the new owners of the airline 'All the best' and said that Air India was in capable hands and that's it's future is now secure. Scindia also said that the Air India disinvestment procedure was a challenging one that culminated in a win-win situation for all stakeholders. "Air India had to be sold because debt had been piling up to a point where it could no longer be sustained by the government," said Scindia. On August 31 last year, Air India had a total debt of ₹61,562 crore. Of this, ₹46,262 crore is being transferred to a special purpose vehicle. The balance debt has been cleared by the Tatas. Tata has paid ₹2,700 crore in cash and taken over debt of ₹15,300 crore for the process. Watch the interview for more details.