NEW DELHI — India has not yet decided whether to privatize money-losing national carrier Air India. “The decision will be taken on merit,” Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju says. “Every suggestion will be examined,” he told the upper house of parliament. The state-run airline, which has been losing money since 2007, recorded a 14.5% jump in revenues – from 124 billion rupees ($2 billion) in the fiscal year ending in March 2013 to 143 billion rupees ($2.3 billion) – during the current fiscal year.
A year ago, the future turboprop market seemed cutthroat, with possibly many overlapping competitors that could ruin each other’s profitability. Now competition for the next decade looks likely to be less fierce, since only one of five projects for new aircraft has moved ahead.
