Editor’s Note:This is a World Bank document prepared to provide a loan to Air India in 1957. Excerpts from the full document (available as the attached pdf file) are provided below.
EXCERPTS FROM
INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
DESCRIPTIVE MEMORANDUM ON AIR INDIA JET PROJECT
February 19, 1957
CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS
1) Rupees 4.80 = U.S. $1.00
2) 1 £ sterling ...U.S. $2.82
Air India the Indian-flag carrier on world routes, is enlarging and modernizing its fleet by the purchase of long-range jets. The company is arranging dollar loans to help finance the foreign exchange costs of the project. The Bank has been asked to participate in this financing.
History
Air India International Corp. (Air India) is the successor by nationalization, effective August 1, 1953, to Air India International, Ltd., which started operations in June 1948. Operations have grown from a single weekly frequency between Bombay and London to 11 services a week along routes from India to the UK and Continental Europe via the Middle East and Near East, to Southeast Asia and Japan, to British East Africa, and to Australia.
