A-I, IA aircraft acqusition plans put on hold now

The aircraft acquisition plans of Air-India and Indian Airlines have been put on hold by the government, saying that first they will decide ...

The aircraft acquisition plans of Air-India and Indian Airlines have been put on hold by the government, saying that first they will decide on disinvestment of the two airlines.

This was decided at the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Tuesday evening. Disclosing this, Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Wednesday hinted that he will go to the Cabinet with the proposal to put off the airlines’ disinvestment for the time being and allow them to go ahead with the acquisition.

The CCS, which met yesterday, had deferred the decision for a

month. ‘‘We will go the Cabinet again with our proposal and seek their guidance,’’ he said, more guardedly this time. It was an earlier Cabinet decision to disinvest the two airlines and now only the Cabinet could put it off, if need be.

Story continues below this ad

The ministry of civil aviation had submitted a proposal to the Cabinet for purchase of 43 aircraft for Indian Airlines and 17 for Air India, at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore. The Cabinet, when it met earlier this month, had also deferred the decision on leasing of four metro airports to private operators. The ministry had proposed a Joint Venture (JV) but Hussain said that they were ‘‘fine tuning’’ the proposal to submit it to the Cabinet again, and this time it could be in any form, ‘‘not necessarily a JV.’’

According to sources, the airports at Delhi and Mumbai might be modernised at the government’s own cost without the involvement of a private player. ‘‘Whatever decision is taken ultimately, all I can say is that things will move at a fast pace,’’ Hussain said, after inspecting the Haj terminal and arrangements made for Haj pilgrims at IGI airport.