Air India IPO to come at 'appropriate time': Govt

The government on Tuesday said the initial public offering of the national carrier Air India would come "at an appropriate time" after looking at the performance of the airline.

"We will have to see the performance of Air India for the timing of the IPO. The IPO would come at an appropriate time," Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters here.

The public issue of the airline is to come after the complete merger of state-run airlines Air India and Indian, slated to happen by the first half of 2009.

Chawla hoped the current stock market volatility may subside by the time of the launch of the IPO and said the government was not confronted with the question of deferring the IPO.

"There is no question of deferring or not deferring the IPO at the moment," he said.

The merger of the two airlines was initiated in July-August 2007 and the government had indicated a timeframe of 12-18 months for its completion.

There was a proposal to offload 10-15 per cent of government stake in the merged entity for its expansion. It was also expected to give away five per cent of its equity as stock options to the employees of the airline.

Source : The Economic Times