National carrier Air India Ltd's latest land monetisation drive in September drew a lukewarm response as it could only sell 17 out of 41 properties that it had put on block and hence garnering Rs 15 crore against expectations of around Rs 400 crore, senior government officials told CNBC-TV18.

"Out of the 41 properties that were put for sale, 17 got sold and we got around Rs 15 crore. We will try selling the remaining properties again," one of the officials said on condition of anonymity.

State-run MSTC Ltd was asked to auction online these 41 properties across Ahmedabad, Bhuj, Bengaluru, Goa, Nasik, Mumbai among others and the last date for submission of e-bids was October 12.

"It does not make sense to sell properties at below market price. We will keep making attempts at selling these until we are content that the price we are getting is the best we can get," the official added.

Next up for sale are 14 properties of the carrier spread across seven cities and the closing date for submission of bids is November 1. While the airline is eyeing to raise around Rs 200 crore by selling the 14 real estate items, it remains to be seen how many it can manage to sell and how much it can earn.

CNBC-TV18 had reported on October 5 that the debt-laden carrier is also mulling monetising properties in Japan, London and Nairobi to generate about Rs 100 crore. This includes two flats in Tokyo, office space in London and some open land in Nairobi.

The Maharaja carrier has also recently entered into a redevelopment agreement with Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHDA) for some of its old flats. Proceeds from the sale of redeveloped flats will be again used to reduce the debt.

"We were expecting some 60 flats, but now we will be receiving 62. Each flat should generate some Rs 3 crore for us," another official said.

The airline is now in discussions with City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) for sale of its residential land at Nerul in Mumbai and is hopeful of generating around Rs 1,500 crore from the sale.

Another major land monetisation programme for Air India will be in New Delhi and this includes the 16,188 square meter land at the prime location of Baba Kharak Singh Marg near Connaught Place and staff quarters spread over 30 acres at Vasant Vihar. CNBC-TV18 had reported earlier this month that the airline is expecting to reduce its debt burden by Rs 4,000-5,000 crore on the back of these two.

The airline, however, is not keen to sell its Nariman Point building any time soon as officials are of the view that the property is an important asset and is a key source of income.

"We are not in a hurry to sell it. We may rent out its 21st and ground floor and that should increase the rental income to Rs 130 crore from current Rs 110 crore," the official said. The airline was earlier considering a proposal to sell the iconic building to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to raise funds.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved a financial restructuring and turnaround plan for Air India in 2012. Under this, monetisation of real estate assets in Air India to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore was also approved over a period of 10 years with an annual target of Rs 500 crore from 2012-13 (April-March) onwards.

However, till March, the airline could only sell properties worth over Rs 500 crore as against expectation of Rs 3,000 crore. Further, till July, the sale of 30 properties have been taken up by auction through MSTC and revenue of Rs 724 crore was realised by the airline, as per government data.

First Published:Oct 23, 2018 10:07 PM IST