Indian government aims to sell Air India, other firms by March 2020: official

India aims to sell two or three state-owned firms, including Air India, to local or foreign companies to raise up to 600 billion rupees. (AFP)

• The Indian government plans to sell Bharat Petroleum, Container Corp. of India and debt-laden Air India

NEW DELHI: India aims to sell two or three state-owned firms to local or foreign firms to raise up to 600 billion rupees ($8.5 billion) by March 2020, a senior Finance Ministry official said on Monday.
The government planned to sell Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., logistics firm Container Corp. of India Ltd. and debt-laden Air India before the end of the 2019/20 financial year, the official, who asked not to be named, told reporters.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had voiced reservations about the Finance Ministry’s past sales of stakes in one state entity to another, which was the case when refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. was sold to Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd, the official said.
“The PMO is very clear that we cannot be selling government companies to another government company and then call it privatization,” the official said.