Centre transfers Air India building in Mumbai to Maharashtra govt

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday transferred ownership of Air India building in Mumbai to the Maharashtra government for Rs 1,601 crore. In addition, the Government of Maharashtra has agreed to forgive old dues payable by AI Assets Holdings Pvt Ltd (AIAHL), totalling about Rs 300 crore.

“GoI has approved transfer of Air India building in Mumbai of AI Assets Holding Company to Government of Maharashtra (GoM) at consideration of Rs 1,601 crore. GoM has agreed to waive dues of Rs 298.42 crore, which would have been otherwise payable by AIAHL to GoM for this transaction,” tweeted Tuhin Kanta Pandey, DIPAM secretary.

AIAHL was established as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) on January 22, 2018, for owning and overseeing remaining non-core assets such as paintings and artifacts of the state-owned Air India, which was later acquired by the Tata group.

After a prolonged five-year effort to privatise the debt-ridden Air India, the government accepted Tata Sons’ bid of Rs 18,000 crore for the flagship carrier in October 2021. The transfer of ownership of the airline took place on January 27, 2022.

The SPV, fully owned by the central government, was set up to manage a working capital loan without asset backing, including four subsidiaries -- Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL), Airline Allied Services Ltd (AASL), Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd (HCI). The non-core assets, land and buildings, were assessed at Rs 14,718 crore.

As per reports, the new owner intends to utilise the building to accommodate its offices. The iconic 23-storey building, built in 1974 on land owned by the Maharashtra government, with 46,470 square meters of space, attracted interest from various entities like the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India before being acquired.

In 2019, the Maharashtra government offered Rs 1,400 crore for the building, with JNPA bidding Rs 1,375 crore and LIC bidding Rs 1,200 crore.