Govt outstanding with AI jumps from Rs3.25B to Rs11.47B in 8 months!

new delhi — The total outstanding of cash-strapped Air India towards government for VVIP charter flights stands at Rs11.47 billion, according to the latest response from the national carrier to an RTI application.

According to the details furnished by the Air India on September 26 to applicant Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd), the Defence Ministry has outstanding bills of Rs2.11 billion, Cabinet Secretariat and PMO Rs5.43 billion and External Affairs Ministry Rs3.92 billion.

Some of the oldest pending bills for the visits of the president, the vice-president and the evacuation flights are nearly 10-year-old, the data furnished by Air India says.

In a previous reply furnished in March this year, the total outstanding bills were at Rs3.25 billion on January 31 which have now risen to Rs11.47 billion, it shows.

Chartered aircraft for VVIPs — president, vice-president and prime minister — for their visits abroad are provided by Air India, which modifies its commercial jets to suit the needs of the travelling dignitaries. The bills for these aircraft are paid from the exchequer by the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Cabinet Secretariat.

The Comptroller and Auditor General had flagged the issue of pending payments from the government to Air India in its report in 2016.

Batra said some of the outstanding bills are pending since 2006 but even the CAG observations have not deterred the government to clear them. —