Armed with permission to issue Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) of tax-free bonds in 2011-12, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will issue the first lot worth Rs 2,500 crore by mid-May.
Pilots working for Air India are divided on the call of a nationwide strike from March 9 by the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), part of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, which has 680 members.
The plan includes expanding the number of flights of AI Express from 204 a week to over 250 a week with a new thrust on West Asia.
In November, airlines resorted to raising spot fares by up to 300 per cent on various routes.
Officials say the new minister, CP Joshi, is convinced by the Planning Commission that the government should award more contracts under the tolling mode.
The Union Budget for 2011-12 is likely to be a low-key affair for social sector spending, as the government is unlikely to come up with any big-ticket announcement for the sector in the next financial year.
"The deliveries of all 787 dreamliners will start from the second quarter of the next financial year and will complete by 2014. These fuel-efficient aircraft will help us reduce costs of our long-haul operations," said an Air India official.
Government support to Budget 2011-12 - or, gross budgetary support (GBS) - is likely to rise by 18 per cent over last year, taking Planning Commission estimates made at the beginning of the 11th Plan (2007-12). With those estimates, the government has with it resources worth Rs 3.73 lakh crore to fund the Budget for the last year of the Plan.
Travelocity accuses Cleartrip of data theft, but the latter terms it commercial dispute
This demand is over and above the Rs 1,200 crore.
Estimates say finances to go 268% more than Plan allocation.
With Indian statistics facing heavy criticism from all quarters in recent times, the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), which is responsible for coordination of statistical activities in the country and evolving and maintaining statistical standards, will have to explore ways to reduce dependence on outsourced secondary data collection.
These single-aisle planes, made by European consortium Airbus Industrie, can seat between 160 and 180. They are considered ideal for domestic and short-haul international operations.
Industry players, who do not want to come on record, say this state of affairs is hampering NHAI's functioning.
"We have suggested a fund for drought or flood, and when our production is hit. The fund will be with the states which the Centre will provide. The implementing agency will be the respective state governments," said K V Thomas, minister of state for agriculture and food.
"We will not regulate fares but there are cases of airlines charging very high fares in a particular route and such airlines will be asked to explain the reasons for that. They cannot charge such high fares without any valid reason," said a civil aviation ministry official.
The highway authority's annual toll earning for 2009-10 was in the range of Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion) from 141 public-funded toll plazas in the country.
Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which constructed and operates Delhi airport, "over-engineered" the new Terminal-3 by building more floor space than stipulated under the master plan, says a cost audit report submitted to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
The average fare on the Delhi-Mumbai route has come down to Rs 6,000, compared with a whopping Rs 15,000 in mid-November, according to an airline executive.
For the current financial year, NHAI will receive Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) as its share of road cess and its annuity payments are in the same range.
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