Not that courageous to invest in Air India: Anand Mahindra

No-frills carrier IndiGo has expressed interest to buy Air India

"I don't possess that much courage" to invest in Air India, noted industrialist Anand Mahindra, bottom, left, has said amid the government deciding to sell stake in the loss-making airline.

To revive the carrier, the Cabinet has decided on its divestment and the modalities such as the treatment of unsustainable debts of Air India and hiving off certain assets to a shell company would be decided.

"I see myself as a generally courageous person... But I confess... I don't possess THAT much courage...," Mahindra said in a tweet.

He was responding to a tweet on whether Mahindra would invest in Air India.

Last week, business leader Sunil Mittal had said that if Air India is to be privatised, then Tatas will be one of the better candidates to buy stake in the airline.

While there has been no official word about their plans, Tata group is believed to be interested in purchasing stake in the national carrier.

No-frills carrier IndiGo has expressed interest to buy Air India but various other international and domestic airlines contacted by PTI did not offer any comment about their interest.

On whether Emirates would look to buy stake in Air India, the Middle East carrier said its strategy is unchanged.

"Our business is focused on organic growth and has a pipeline of investments to renew and grow the fleet, expand the global network and continuous innovation of our products and services," the airline said in an e-mailed statement.

"Emirates confirms that it has no plans to acquire a stake in any airline/ airport in India or elsewhere," it added.

Responding to the same query, a flydubai spokesperson said, "this isn't something that we are exploring and we remain committed to growing our network in India organically".

A Lufthansa spokesperson said it would not comment on speculations.

"Jet Airways does not comment on speculation. As a listed entity, all material decisions are taken by the company's board and duly conveyed at the appropriate time," an airline spokesperson said.

There was no immediate comment on the query from SpiceJet.

Queries sent to Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and South Afircan Airways remained unanswered.

Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters