"We are going for the initial public offer and we will give employees stock options," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in an interview to the BBC's 'Hard Talk' programme.

Asked whether the government had decided to reduce its role in the functioning of the two carriers, he said, "I think that India's best foot forward is going to be reduced government role, whether it is in power sector or running airlines or railways. We are conscious to the fact."

He said the UPA government's liberalisation policy in the civil aviation sector has resulted in competition even to the extent that market share of the state-owned carriers has fallen to 30 per cent.

Patel conceded that infrastructure was one of the biggest challenges that the Indian civil aviation sector was up against.

"Close to $50 billion investment is coming in the sector in the next 5-7 years but most of it is in the form of (acquiring) planes. How are we going to fly these planes and how are we going to park these planes...It is absolutely an area of concern," he said.

The minister said the government has taken several steps to address the infrastructure crunch as India had already fallen way behind its Asian rival China.