Air India eyes Rs800 crore from sale of 70 properties 

Loss-making national carrier Air India plans to mop up Rs 700-800 crore by selling over 70 residential and commercial properties spread across the country.

This fresh bid is a part of the airline’s real estate assets monetisation plan approved by the then UPA government in 2012. As per the plan, Air India had to the garner funds to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore between April 2014 and March 2021, with an annual target of Rs 500 crore from FY13 onwards.

The properties, which are spread over 16 cities pan India, will be e-auctioned through the state-run auctioneer MSTC.

“We are expecting to raise about Rs 700-800 crore by e-auctioning of these over 70 properties, which comprises both residential as well as commercial. Some of these properties are those which we put up on the block earlier but could not get a buyer,” the official said.

Last month, Air India had put 14 properties on sale, in cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Amritsar.

Air India’s debt burden stands around Rs 55,000 crore, besides huge accumulated losses. According to its audited accounts, the airline’s total losses stood at Rs 47,145.62 crore in 2016-17.

The government had in May said that Air India has mopped up Rs 543.03 crore from monetisation of its assets in prime locations, such as Mumbai and Chennai.

While a previous attempt at selling the same properties in September had received tepid response, the airline has now made a renewed attempt to achieve its aim of raising money from such divestments in 2018-19.

According to the information related to the auction on MSTC’s official website, Air India has put 30 of its apartments across Mumbai on auction. The estimated worth of these property is Rs 250 crore. As many as 14 apartments are in a building at Bandra’s upscale Pali Hill locality. The MSTC has notified a reserve price of Rs 200 crore for these collectively. The entire building is up for auction. The remaining apartments are spread across Cuffe Parade, Mahim, Prabhadevi (island city), Khar and Malad (western suburbs). The last day of submitting bids is December 4.