Air India's Outstanding Bill Towards Government Rises to Rs 1146.86 Crore, PMO Owes Rs 543.18 Crore
The total outstanding of cash-strapped Air India towards government rose from Rs 325 crore on January 31 to Rs 1146.86 crore.
New Delhi, Sep 30: The central government is yet to clear bills amounting Rs 1146.86 crore for using VVIP charter flights from Air India. The total outstanding of cash-strapped Air India towards government rose from Rs 325 crore on January 31 to Rs 1146.86 crore, according to the latest response from the national carrier to an RTI application.
Out of the total pending amount, the Defence Ministry has outstanding bills of Rs 211.17 crore, Cabinet Secretariat and PMO Rs 543.18 crore and External Affairs Ministry Rs 392.33 crore, according to the details furnished by the Air India on September 26 to applicant Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd). Some 10-year-old bills are yet to be paid by the government. Air India Grounds 19 Planes Due to Lack of Spare Parts! Leads to Cancellations & Huge Loss to Revenue.
The issue of pending payments from the government to Air India was flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General in its report in 2016. “Hence considering the significant quantum of pending dues and in the context of government support to AIL for turnaround, more efforts need to be made for early action for reimbursement of dues by both AIL and government,” it had said.
According to the RTI applicant, some of the outstanding bills are pending since 2006, but even the CAG observations have not deterred the government to clear them. The debt burden of the national carrier, which is grappling with harsh business conditions, is estimated to be more than Rs 50,000 crore.
Chartered aircraft for VVIPs – president, vice president and prime minister – for their visits abroad are provided by Air India, which modifies its commercial jets to suit the needs of the travelling dignitaries. The bills for these aircraft are paid from the exchequer by the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Cabinet Secretariat. (With PTI inputs)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 30, 2018 07:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).