As part of its plan to restructure Air India, the government is discussing a plan to wind up Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), a loss-making subsidiary of the national carrier that has hotels in New Delhi and Srinagar.
“The concern is the over 800 employees in the company, who will go jobless with the closure. We need to do something for them before the closure of the company, which is being discussed at various levels” said a senior government official, who did not want to be identified.
According to Air India’s annual report, HCI had losses of Rs 54.27 crore by the end of 2017 fiscal. The company runs a lounge at Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 and flight kitchen in Delhi and Mumbai. The firm supplies about 30% of the food requirements of the national carrier.
The official said that Centaur Hotel would be demolished to make way for a fourth runway in Delhi and the hotel in Srinagar is likely to be handed over to the J&K government. “The money that would come after handing over of the hotel to Delhi airport would help offset the dues that the national carrier has to pay to Delhi airport and the Srinagar hotel will be handed over to J&K government, as the land is on lease from the state government,” the official added.
Another official said that the flight kitchen may be taken over by Air India or may be terminated after the company’s closure. “Flight kitchen is also not a profit-making proposition for the company and winding it up is an idea that would make more sense than continuing with it,” said another official on the condition of anonymity.
As part of the restructuring, the government has taken over a debt of Rs 29,000 crore out of the Rs 55,000 crore debt of the airline. The restructuring was initiated after the government failed to find takers for a 76% stake in the national carrier.
Source: Economic Times