Cabinet approves proposal to sell govt stake in Air India

India's cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to sell the government's stake in state-owned airline Air India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

The cabinet has given an "in-principle" approval for the stake sale, Jaitley told reporters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration has been exploring ways to privatise the loss-making national carrier, which was bailed out in 2012 with $5.8 billion of federal funding.