New Delhi: The Central government on Thursday has cleared over Rs. 61,562 crore of Air India’s total debt, prior to the transfer of the airline to the Tata Group.
According to reports, the loss-making carrier had a sum of Rs, 61,562 crores as debt, as of August 31.
Out of this huge amount of debt around Rs, 15,300 crores was taken over by the Tata Group of companies, and the other Rs 46,000 crore was settled by a Special Purpose Vehicle that is, AI Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL).
The Air India Assets Holding Limited (AIAHL) also took possession of Air India’s non-core assets such as stakes in Hotel Corporations of India, paintings and artifacts, and other real properties.
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Of this, broadly about ₹, 61,131 crores has been used to repay the entire debt and other liabilities such as fuel dues to oil companies.
The Tata group was the winning bidder for Air India in October last year, with a winning bid of Rs 18,000 crore. Tatas have paid ₹ 2,700 crore cash and taken over ₹ 15,300 crores of the airline's debt. The deal also includes the sale of Air India Express and ground handling arm AISATS.
Tata beat the ₹ 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of ₹ 12,906 crores set by the government for the sale of its 100 percent stake in the loss-making carrier.
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