IndiGo expresses interest in buying stake in debt-ridden Air India

A day after the Cabinet cleared disinvestment of beleaguered national carrier, IndiGo airline has expressed its interest in buying stake in debt-ridden Air India.

"Indigo has written a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry showing unsolicited expression of interest in Air India's disinvestment process," said Minister of Civil Aviation​ Secretary R N Choubey.

The Aviation Ministry is likely to start the process of disinvestment of the national carrier.

The Cabinet cleared disinvestment of Air India which has floundered amid stiff competition from no-frills rivals and reported at least seven years of losses.

The airline, which was afloat thanks to a Rs 30,231 crore nine-year bailout programme approved in 2012, has about Rs 52,000 crore of debt. It is hampered by debt and servicing costs, which largely eroded its recovery.

Air India, which made an operating profit of about Rs 100 crore in 2015-16 on back of drop in oil prices, but posted a net loss of Rs 3,840 crore, has seen its market share shrink to 12.9 per cent from 35 per cent a decade back.