Civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla on Sunday said that the combined financial losses of Air India and Indian (before their merger) amounted to Rs 700 crore last year (financial year 2006-07) and that the losses were expected to exceed even that figure this year (financial year 2007-08)."The losses were ... Rs 700 crore last year and this year too, there will be losses which will probably be even more than that last year," Mr Chawla told reporters on the sidelines of an aviation summit organised by the Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism (FAST) here on Sunday.
When asked about the reported announcement of a senior Air India official in Chennai recently that 15 to 20 per cent stake in the airline could be sold in future, Mr Chawla said that the government had not taken any decision on offloading equity in the state-owned airline.
Sridhar Kumaraswami/Asian Age
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