It looks like the government wants to play safe with Air India's privatisation as general elections are just around the corner. Weeks after the divestment process found no takers for the beleaguered national carrier, the government said it would soon review the plan to sell a stake in Air India. The process, now turned out to be a complete failure, was anyway facing stiff resistance from not only the opposition but from some within the government.

India has shelved its sale of Air India after failing to attract buyers, local media quoted a government minister as saying – a decision that could exacerbate the carrier’s financial woes and representing a setback for government efforts to cut debt. Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said plans to privatise the carrier have been dropped for now due to factors such as the looming election and high oil prices, according to Times of India which cited news agency PTI.

The government has decided not to go ahead with Air India stake sale in an election year and will provide required funds for its operations, a senior official said today.

The decision comes less than 3 weeks after the proposed 76 per cent strategic stake sale in debt laden national carrier failed to attract any bidder.

Now that the Air India sale process has come a cropper, and the government is reportedly looking at listing Air India (AI) in order to make it a truly independent company, the obvious question is who will buy it? As per the plan, once the government stake in Air India falls to below 50%, an independent board and a brand-new team can be appointed to fly the airline into profitability—once the stake is below 50%,

Every other day, there are reports that the government is tweaking the Air India sale terms in order to make it attractive for buyers.

However, in doing so, the government essentially appears to be treating the symptoms and not the disease. The main problem with the Air India sale is that nobody will be willing to buy it in its current form.

The government is considering revising the terms of sale for Air India, including offering a 100 per cent stake, after its latest attempt to sell 76 per cent of the debt-ridden airline failed to draw even a single bid.

Transaction advisor EY has cited the clause of the government holding a minority stake in the state carrier as the biggest reason for the failed disinvestment bid.

The Congress slammed the Narendra Modi government for mismanaging’ the economy which slowed down the GDP growth and led to rampant unemployment.

The party blamed the government for “allowing” Nirav Modi and Mehul Chosky, the main accused in the Rs 143 billion Punjab National Bank scam, to flee the country. It also hit out at the government for its “confused” policy on Air India disinvestment.

If you are flying Air India, be extra cautious while packing those suitcases. Because from today, June 11, you have to shell out more for extra baggage while flying with the national carrier.

Air India has hiked the charges for extra luggage from Rs 400 to Rs 500. However, these revise changes will not be applicable in Air India's regional arm, Alliance Air.

Cash-crunched Air India, which delayed salaries for three months in a row, has sought an additional funding of around Rs 2,000 crore from the government to tide over the situation, a senior company official said.

The airline is expecting these funds next month when the government moves the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2018-19 in the Monsoon session of Parliament, the official said.

State-run Air India on Wednesday said it has revised the excess baggage charges by Rs 100 per kg to Rs 500 for domestic travels from June 11.

As of now, the airline charges Rs 400 per kg for excess baggage.

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