By IANS,
New Delhi : National carrier Air India has been asked to present its restructuring plan within a month, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Thursday and reiterated that the airline cannot take the government for granted.
“The government wants to know what is needed to be implemented in coming weeks and years. The management and the employees have to come out with a proper restructuring plan. They have to respond quickly,” the minister told reporters outside parliament.
Patel said Air India would appoint investment bank SBI Caps for the financial restructuring.
The airlines is also working on setting up committees for assessing the reasons for its financial problems.
Patel had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh June 24 to discuss a bailout plan for the carrier.
The prime minister suggested cost-cutting measures to improve the financial condition of National Aviation Co, which owns Air India.
Prior to this, Air India chairman Arvind Jadhav and Civil Aviation Secretary M. Madhavan Nambiar had met Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar and the prime minister’s Principal Secretary T.K.A. Nair.
Air India incurred a loss of Rs.4,000 crore last fiscal and has asked for a Rs.10,000-crore ($2-billion) bailout package from the central government.