The Central government owes Rs. 451.75 crore to Air India for VVIP flights carrying the President, Vice President and the Prime Minister, as well as special missions, according to the latest data provided under the Right To Information Act.
As per the information provided in response to the RTI query filed by retired Commodore Lokesh Batra, senior officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry, including Union Minister Ashok Gajpathi Raju, had written 31 letters between 2014 and 2017 to various Ministries asking them to make timely payments to the national carrier for accruing dues at various points in time.