Union Budget 2017: Air India gets Rs 1,800 cr as equity infusion even as losses pile up

New Delhi: National carrier Air India will receive Rs 1,800 crore as equity infusion in 2017-18 under thegovernment's ongoing financial assistance and the amount is slightly higher than the allocation for this fiscal.[caption id="attachment_2975518" align="alignleft" width="380"] An Air India aircraft. [/caption]The allocation has been made in the Union Budget for 2017-18, which was presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday.For 2016-17, the government had allocated Rs 1,713 crore to the airline against a demand of Rs 3,911 crore.The government-owned airline has been allocated Rs 1,800 crore as part of the Rs 30,0231 crore financial bailout package. Air India had asked for Rs 2,844 crore as equity from the government for the fiscal year starting April 2017.The airline is surviving on a Rs 30,231-crore bailout package extended by the previous UPA government in 2012, staggering over 10 years.As part of this planned equity infusion, the carrier has so far received around Rs 24,000 crore from the government.Saddled with a debt of Rs 46,570 crore, including Rs 15,900 crore on account of aircraft acquisition, the carrier posted an operational profit of Rs 105 crore for the first time in a decade last fiscal. However, in the ongoing financial year, the airline has reported combined losses of over Rs 700 crore for April and September quarters.