Wednesday, March 19, 2008

No Decision Yet On Date For Air India IPO

New Delhi: India has not yet decided when it will launch an initial public offering in state-run Air India, and will fix a date based on the financial performance of the carrier, a government official said on Tuesday.

The government had earlier said it would sell up to 15 per cent of Air India and use the funds for expansion.

"No decision has been taken yet," Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.

"We will have to take a view on when to consider having the IPO based on the performance (of Air India), which will require the approval of the cabinet," he said.

Chawla declined to say how much the government expects to raise from the offering.

In August, Air India merged with state-run Indian Airlines to form the National Aviation Company of India Ltd. The combined fleet of 112 planes fly on the Air India brand and has on order another 111 Boeing and Airbus planes.

The stand-alone Air India posted a loss of Rs 448 crore ($110 million) in 2006/07, according to a statement made by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in Parliament on March 3.

Indian Airlines figures for the same period were not available, but in November the Minister told Parliament that the airline had posted profits for the three preceding years.

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