Air India seeks 20 billion rupees from government for Fiscal Year 12

State-run carrier Air India has sought an additional Rs20 billion from the government for Fiscal Year 12, aviation minister Praful Patel said on Monday.

The minister also said fund infusion of Rs12 billion is expected in the next few days.

"It is a commitment of the government of India to ensure that the national carrier is in good health. Some parameters have already improved, but much more needs to be done," Patel said.

Passenger traffic at Air India rose 13.3%to 9.05 million in April-November, while revenue rose 22.6% to 72.5 billion rupees in the period, it said in a press release.     

Air India still has debt of about 190 billion rupees and is trying to cut costs through fleet and route rationalisation.        

Patel also said that a debt restructuring plan to reduce the interest burden for Air India was expected to be completed by end January. 

Kingfisher Airlines, India's second largest carrier by market share, is also recasting its debt and plans to convert some of it into equity.       

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had in September forecast a combined loss of $400 million for Indian airline companies in 2010. The sector posted a combined loss of $1.7 billion in 2009.