Air India started the auction of 28 properties, including commercial buildings and apartments across the country while aiming to raise around $36 million (Rs 270 crore).
On July 8, 2021, Air India started auctioning 28 properties online, managed by the government-owned administrative control company MSTC. With this sale, the flag carrier of India aims to raise as much as $36 million Rs 270 crore, as part of Air India‘s monetization plan amid the authorities’ disinvestment process.
The online sale includes some of the Air India properties which the air carrier has already attempted to sell multiple times, but failed to attract the attention of potential buyers. The list of units includes 5 apartments at the Asian Games Village Complex located in Delhi as well as a 2,006 square meter residential plot in Pali Hill, Bandra along with a 14-flat building.
As for prices, Air India attempts to sell the properties in the Asian Games Village for a starting price of $500,000 (Rs 4 crore). Meanwhile, the price for the residential plot in Pali Hill starts from $20 million (Rs 150 crore).
Among more than two dozen properties, the airline also sells a booking office and staff quarters in the Town Centre in Maharashtra as well as a 5,934 square meter plot in Gangamuthanahalli Village of Devanahalli district in Bengaluru, and four two-bedroom units in Sohini Apartments, in Kolkata. The price for a booking office in Maharashtra starts from $2,67 million (Rs 20 crore), while the plot in Bengaluru is priced at around $0,5 million (Rs 4 crore). For four two-bedroom units in Kolkata, the airline asks for around $56,347 (Rs 50 lakh) for each unit.
The national air carrier of India conducted a similar auction in August 2019, when it listed more than 60 assets on sale, including several apartments across various Indian cities, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Nashik, Bengaluru, Lonavala, Hyderabad, Gwalior, Delhi, Amritsar, Bhuj, and others.
The government of India plans to conclude the disinvestment process of Air India by the end of 2021.