Having reported an operating profit of INR 105 crore for 2015-2016 fiscal, Air India is expected to post an improved operating profit margin this year as well, even as liquidity constraints continue to impact the smooth performance of the national carrier, the government said. Air India, over the years and especially since the implementation of the turnaround plan, has been constantly improving its operational as well as financial performance, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
Sinha said, “In the financial year 2016-2017 also, the company has been steadily improving its all-round performance and it is expected that the company would again post an improved operating profit margin in the current fiscal also.”
However, the he said that liquidity constraints continue to impact the smooth performance of the company, the impact of which has been met by the government.
The airline is surviving on a INR 30,231-crore bailout package extended by the previous UPA government in 2012, as part of its turnaround plan, staggering over 10 years. As part of this planned equity infusion, the carrier has so far received around INR 24,000 crore from the government.
Sinha said that Air India has been making constant efforts for substituting its high-cost working capital loans with long-term low-cost debt. Air India has been in consultations with various banks in this direction so that the interest comes down subsequently in the coming years.
(PTI)
