Debt trap: Air India's ride out of turbulence may have hit a dead end

Air India's debt problem has snowballed into a monster of stratospheric proportions

Documents reviewed by Business Standard show that the Modi administration has been aggressively pumping money in a bid to resuscitate Air India’s fortunes. From August 2014, a couple of months after the Narendra Modi led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government assumed power, till March 2017, Rs 16822 crore have been infused into Air India from tax payer’s money. The first tranche of Rs 2000 crore was received by Air India in August 2014. Subsequently, six more payments totaling Rs 1947 crore were made from September 2014 to February 2015.

Between April to November 2015, seven payments amounting to Rs 3300