The government on Monday informed the Parliament that the employees of Air India will continue to get the gratuity and provident fund (PF) benefits under the applicable laws even after the divestment of the airline. On October 8, the government had announced that Talace Private Limited -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons -- had won the bid to acquire the debt-laden airline. Tata had outbid a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh by offering Rs 18,000 crore. Later on October 25, the government signed the share purchase agreement with Tata Sons for the divestment of Air India. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation General VK Singh said that the interests of the employees have been taken care of by the government and incorporated in the share purchase agreement signed with the strategic partner. Also Read: Banks recovered Rs 13k cr from asset sale of defaulters like Nirav Modi, Mallya: FM
"In accordance with the applicable laws, the strategic partner, post disinvestment, shall continue to provide gratuity and PF benefits to the employees. The arrangement with the employees and Life Insurance Corporation of India for administrating the existing Air India and Indian Airlines employees Self Contributory Superannuation Pension Fund Trust will continue," he said. Further, the government will also take care of the medical benefits to be made available to the retired and eligible retiring Air India beneficiaries, he added. Earlier this month, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had said that the transfer of Air India to Tata Sons will be completed in the next 1 to 1.5 months. As per the share purchase agreement, Rs 46,262 crore debt of the state-owned airline will be transferred to Air India Assets Holding Limited (AIAHL), while 15 per cent of the total debt of Rs 61,562 crore will be retained by Tatas. The government will get around Rs 2,700 crore cash from Tatas, and they will take over Rs 15,300 crore debt.
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