Commerce minister Piyush Goyal was at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland’s Davos. On Thursday, Goyal said that he would have been an Air India bidder, if not a minister.
“It has some of the best bilaterals the world over, a well managed and efficient Air India is nothing sort of a goldmine to my mind”, Goyal said.
Bilaterals refers to an agreement between two countries that allows each other’s airlines to operate services with a specific number of seats.
As the government works on divesting debt laden Air India, Piyush Goyal confessed his hidden wish. Air India has been in the red for long and the government now is finalizing the contours of its disinvestment.
Goyal further said that in the first term, the government had inherited an economy which was in pretty terrible shape. “Steps were taken to put the economy back in shape and if the government had looked at divesting these jewels (BPCL and other government companies), it would not have got a great value,” added Goyal who holds the portfolios of Railways as well as Commerce and Industry.
