NEW DELHI, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government on Wednesday approved the sale of the country's ailing national carrier Air India.
"The Indian Cabinet has given its in-principle approval for Air India's disinvestment," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the national capital.
A committee has also been set up to work out how the government's decision would be implemented, the minister said, refusing to elaborate further.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju last month indicated that the national carrier with its "legacy debts" could not continue to be funded by the government.
"The Maharaja (mascot of Air India) is now impoverished," he said.
The government's financial think-tank Niti Aayog has also recommended the selling of the carrier to a private buyer after writing off 50 percent of the airline's liabilities.
According to media reports, the Tata group, one of India's major industrial houses, has shown interest in buying a major stake in Air India.
Air India was, in fact, started by the Tata Group in 1932 as Tata Airlines.
After Independence, the group joined hands with the government in 1948 to fly the airline, which was fully nationalised five years later.
