AIR INDIA'S 49% FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS

NEW DELHI: India allows foreign investors to own up to 49% of Air India.

India cleared a proposal on Wednesday to allow foreign investors to own up to 49% stake in state-run carrier Air India, paving the way for global airlines to bid for the loss-making flagship carrier.

It brings Air India, which previously had to be fully locally owned, in line with the country's  other local airlines  in which foreign investment is allowed.

India allows  100%  foreign investment in its other local airlines, but caps foreign airlines stake at  49%.

IN AIR INDIA, it will now allow a maximum of 49% foreign ownership including that by airlines.

But sustained ownership and effective control of Air India must remain with an Indian national, the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet gave the go-ahead last year to sell Air India, after successive governments spent billions of dollars in recent years to keep it going.

However, it has yet to decide what to do with the carrier's debt burden of $8.5 billion.

Leslie Thng, chief executive of Vistara, a carrier owned by salt-to-steel conglomerate Tata Group and Singapore Airlines Ltd, last week said the companies were ''open to evaluating'' a potential bid for Air India.

And companies, including low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, Tata Group and Turkey's Celebi Aviation Holdings, have expressed an interest in having some of Air India's various businesses.