New Delhi: The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) said it is open to the idea of privatization of loss-making Air India (AI), as infusion of tax payer's money couldn't be endless.
The new government is open to the idea of privatising loss-making Air India (AI), which is surviving on a bailout funded by the taxpayer, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati said on Thursday soon after taking charge of the ministry.
The new aviation minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the government will look into all issues related to the national carrier and that it is "not close to any idea".
He also said that several public sector companies do function well in several countries. “Somehow for us, it has not happened that way ... but we have to examine all aspects... Air India is a public sector undertaking. It has its pluses and minuses. How to develop it, we have to look into," he added.
The TDP leader also recalled his party's long-standing demand for naming the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad after TDP founder and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister NT Rama Rao.
