Air India and BPCL to be Sold Off by March, 2020: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi, November 17, 2019:

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the government is planning to sell state-run airline Air India and the oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) by March 2020.

Despite the protests across the country over the privatization of the state-owned companies, the government has started privatizing the companies one by one, critics allege.

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According to reports, the strategic disinvestment of the two state-run companies is critical for the government to meet its disinvestment target of Rs 1 lakh crore for the current fiscal year.

Nirmala Sitharaman said that there is a lot of interest among investors which is apparent in international roadshows ahead of Air India's sale. The government had to drop the Air India’s stake sale in 2018 due to investors' indifferent response.

But, it is counting on proceeds from the strategic sale and public offers to strengthen its revenues in a year when tax collections suggest a likely fiscal slippage, said Sitharaman.

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The finance minister also added that the government has been taking a lot of steps to arrest the downturn in the economy. She further added that the industry captains had contributed to improving their balance sheets and many of them were also mulling fresh investments.

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