This is as per an RTI reply received by this newspaper from Air India.
New Delhi: Different government agencies and departments owe more than Rs 526 crore to ailing national carrier Air India as on 31March this year, according to an RTI reply received by The Sunday Guardian from Air India.
The RTI reply from Air India has given a detailed breakup of the money owed to the airline by numerous different government departments, bodies and institutions.
According to the RTI response, the Commissioner of Customs, Ministry of Finance, owes a whopping Rs 64.37 crore to the national carrier, while the office of the Director General of Post and Telegraph, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, owes more than Rs 31 crore, 37 lakh to the airlines as on 31March this year.
Several offices of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), that come under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), also owe at least Rs 70 crore to Air India as on 31 March. For example, the office of the Deputy I.G., CRPF-Guwahati, owes Rs 3 crore and 46 lakh to Air India; likewise the office of the I.G., CRPF Kolkata, owes more than Rs 1 crore 9 lakh to Air India.
The office of the Secretary to the Governor of Tripura also owes more than Rs 17 lakh to Air India, while the West Bengal State Electricity Board owes around Rs 40,000 to the airline.
The Airport Authority of India also owes around Rs 3 crore to Air India as on 31 March this year, while the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) owes more than Rs 50 lakh to the airlines.
Not only this, even the President of India’s secretariat owes more than Rs 60 lakh to Air India as of 31 March this year. The Lok Sabha, along with the Lok Sabha Secretariat, owes more than Rs 4 crore 50 lakh to Air India, while the Rajya Sabha, along with the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, owes more than Rs three crore to the debt-ridden national carrier.
The Ministry of External Affairs owes more than Rs 10 crore to Air India and this excludes the different Embassies and High Commissions of India in different countries across the world, which also owe at least Rs 70 crore to Air India as on 31March this year, as per the RTI reply.
Apart from this, several other ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Home, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, among many others, also owe lakhs of rupees each to the airlines. Even the Intelligence Bureau and its allied subsidiary bodies across the country, the CBI, the ITBP, and some offices of the Army also owe lakhs of rupees to Air India as per the information provided by the airline to The Sunday Guardian.
It is pertinent to mention that Air India is already facing a huge debt of about Rs 62,000 crore and the government is planning to disinvest the airline and is waiting for prospective buyers.