India's government is pushing towards the privatisation of its debt-laden carrier Air India, which is losing market share amid cut-throat domestic competition, analysts say.
Since last year, the government has been looking at selling off a stake in Air India, which has debts of about $8 billion and lost more than 36bn rupees in the financial year to the end of March 2017.
Jayant Sinha, India's minister of state for civil aviation, last month told parliament there were a number of factors weighing on the carrier that had triggered its hefty losses. These are challenges that will not disappear if an investor steps in.
“The major reasons are … high interest burden, an increase in competition especially from low cost carriers, high airport user charges, adverse impact of exchange rate variation due to weakening of the Indian rupee, liberalised bilaterals to foreign carriers leading to excess capacity in the market.”
With several new carriers having launched in India, Air India's market share has fallen to about 13 per cent compared to 35 per cent just over a decade ago. The airline, which has a fleet of 119 aircraft, plus five on order, at an average of 8.1 years according to Planespotters.net, flies to about 70 domestic destinations and 40 international destinations.
The finance minister Arun Jaitley has said that the money spent on Air India could be better spent on areas such as education and healthcare in the country.
Narendra Modi's government believes it simply does not make sense to continue supporting the airline, after the previous Congress-led government approved a ten-year package worth more than $4 billion for the airline in 2012.
Not everyone is happy about the plans for privatisation altogether. Trade unions are widely opposing the plans. There have been reports in the Indian media, citing unnamed sources, that, with a stake sale, the government will look into absorbing some of the 29,000 employees of the carrier into public sector companies and encourage some to opt for voluntary retirement.
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"Handling the employees of Air India, will be the most significant challenge for the government in the run-up to the sale," said says Vivek Kaul, an economic commentator at Equitymaster, a financial research and analysis firm based in Mumbai. "In the past, when government-owned airlines have been sold in other parts of the world, the number of employees working for the airline has come down considerably, for the airline to be viable for the firm buying it."
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On its part, the government, which is eager to close a deal, is trying to make the airline a more attractive proposition to investors.
To this end, it is planning to split up the company into four parts and sell of at least 51 per cent in each separate entity, according to Bloomberg News. This would involve carving out Air India and low-cost Air India Express from its engineering, ground handling, and regional operations, the newswire reported. Air India declined to comment on the privatisation plan.
But there are a number of factors that could also be key to the successful privatisation of Air India.
Capa India, an aviation research company, in a recent report highlights that “the most important step” would be to clean up the company's balance sheet.
Breaking it up into four separate companies could help this process, so that the capital raised from the other sections could be used to retire debt, according to Capa.
“The government should exit Air India completely,” Capa says. “Any level of equity retention will deter investors due to concerns about the prospect of continued government interference post-privatisation.”
In addition, it warns that the government must provide “comprehensive disclosures” on Air India's finances and labour contracts, and it should give investors the scope to make significant changes – including to the airline's branding if it thinks it is necessary.
“The new investors should have reasonable flexibility to take commercial decisions on employee numbers and productivity over time, particularly for non-core roles. Similarly with retention of the Air India brand, the government should be open to discussions,” Capa said.
Both foreign investors and Indian companies would be welcome to invest in the airline as far as government is concerned. New Delhi this month announced it would allow foreign airlines to buy a stake of up to 49 per cent in Air India, as it eased regulations for several sectors in an effort to attract more foreign direct investment.
Archit Gupta, the chief executive of Atom Aviation Services, says that the government easing of restrictions for foreign investors and splitting the company into four different divisions is a result of the fact that it had not been able to find an investor.
"Since it's a big entity it's not easy to analyse the company's accounts," says Mr Gupta, adding investors will be looking for the right deal.
"It's a good decision to sell.The process could be complete in one year."
So far, the struggling airline has attracted interest from Tata, the Indian conglomerate which has interests in areas ranging from steel to IT, and owns companies including Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley.
Tata already has a strong presence in India's aviation sector, with its joint partnership with Singapore Airlines in the Indian carrier Vistara and with Malaysia's Air Asia in the low-cost carrier Air Asia India. If Tata were to proceed with buying a stake, it would see things coming full circle. Air India was in fact founded by JRD Tata, the group's former chairman, in the 1930s, when it was known as Tata Airlines, before it was nationalised more than twenty years later.
Indigo, which is a budget carrier in India and the largest airline by market share in the country, has also been studying the opportunity. Singapore Airlines this month said that it was keeping its “options open”.
The potential of India's aviation sector, however, is huge with rising incomes and a growing number of Indians taking to the skies.
"Also, once Air India is privatised, the chances of the government getting out of many other businesses, will go up dramatically," says Mr Kaul.
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
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Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Arsenal's pre-season fixtures
Thursday Beat Sydney 2-0 in Sydney
Saturday v Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney
Wednesday v Bayern Munich in Shanghai
July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing
July 29 v Benfica in London
July 30 v Sevilla in London
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The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
Get Out
Director: Jordan Peele
Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
Four stars
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Henderson, Pickford, Pope.
Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Dier, Gomez, Keane, Maguire, Maitland-Niles, Mings, Saka, Trippier, Walker.
Midfielders Henderson, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse, Winks.
Forwards Abraham, Barnes, Calvert-Lewin, Grealish, Ings, Kane, Rashford, Sancho, Sterling.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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