No immediate plan to privatise Air India: MoS Civil Aviation

As per an Economic Times report, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) may turn to the private sector to find a suitable candidate to head Air India Ltd, Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Tourism and Culture and Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation, Government of India, said recently on the sidelines of an Aviation Focus Summit in New Delhi. "If rules permit, I am open to the idea of hiring an expert from the private sector to run Air India," Sharma said.

Earlier last month, the Ministry had written to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to set up a search panel to find a head for the national carrier after the Public Enterprises Selection Board could not select a candidate for the job. The term of the current Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan expired in August last year and he is on an extension till August this year. Sharma also said that the government at this stage is not in favour of privatisation of Air India.

Source: http://goo.gl/zRB4Nv