The greenfield airport project at Navi Mumbai is likely to get the final environmental nod by October and the bidding process expected to begin by the year-end, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Monday.
Meanwhile, replying to another query, the minister said that National Aviation Company of India Ltd had submitted a proposal for infusion of equity of Rs 1,231 crore (Rs 12.31 billion) and provision of soft loans worth Rs 2,750 crore (rs 27.5 billion) in the last fiscal.
Interacting with media persons after the launch of the party unit, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said: "There are people here in the US who are passionate about India despite living here for so many years and we are here today to show our commitment to Indian Americans. We would like to lend a voice to their emotions, sentiments and thought processes and carry them back home."
The airlines, which was forced to defer payment of June salary to majority of its staff, has piled up a loss of Rs 7,200 crore as on March 31. For the fiscal 2008-09, it is estimated to have incurred a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in a difficult global aviation market.
The Civil Aviation Authority of India Bill 2013, which was introduced by Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal, would provide the CAA full operational and financial autonomy to regulate all issues concerning civil aviation safety and protect the interests of consumers in a fast-changing aviation scenario.
"There is every reason for Air India to respond quickly. The management, the employees, all will have to come out with a proper restructuring plan," he told reporters outside Parliament House. Patel said government support cannot be taken for granted. "It cannot be open-ended. However, the government is committed...We want a strong national carrier," he said.
"If the charges are proved, then the NCP will completely dissociate itself from Patil," senior NCP leader and Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told media-persons in New Delhi.
The government is likely to allow state-owned Airports Authority of India to raise Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) through infrastructure bonds to enable it to finance its ongoing programme to modernise and expand a large number of airports across the country.
Some of the operational goals the carrier has set for itself are 25 million domestic and 15 million international passengers by 2015.
'We have the majority. We will survive even when we go ahead with the deal,' Praful Patel told rediff.com 'We have 234 (Lok Sabha) MPs in the UPA, add 39 members of the Samajwadi Party and the Independents who have declared support to us,' a Congress leader added. 'We believe it touches the mark of 272.'
Stepping up its efforts to evacuate Indian students stranded in war-hit Ukraine, the Centre on Monday decided that Union ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and V K Singh will travel to its neighbouring countries to coordinate the evacuation mission and help students, government sources said.
The bill to set up an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority, which will fix tariffs for different agencies involved in airport operations and management, will be introduced in the budget session of Parliament next year.
Private airlines collecting taxes from travellers other than the passenger service fee will be penalised and made to refund such money, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Lok Sabha on Thursday. Patel made it clear that the government did not regulate the air fare levied by Airline companies. The government only levies Rs 221 as passenger service fee which is used for security of airports and to cover other related expenses, he said.
Janata Dal (United) president and former Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav said the barrier of language might have led to the Managalore air crash in which 158 persons onboard were killed.
The Centre will come out with a policy by next year that will prescribe guidelines to state governments, private investors and Airports Authority of India for building airports. This was announced by the Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel at an Assocham function to discuss the need for building aerotropolis (cities around the airport).
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is in the midst of a row over offloading of passenger and delaying a flight from Leh to Delhi, on Thursday tendered an apology even as he insisted that he was not aware of some others not being allowed to board.
The government had provided some relief to domestic airlines when ATF prices had sky-rocketed, Patel said, adding 'it would not be possible now.'MIAl has proposed that it may be allowed to levy Rs 350 per domestic passenger and Rs 1,300 per international passenger to meet its funding requirements.
The Indian hockey team recently won the Asia Cup, but the recognition the players received was nothing like what the cricket team is getting after the Twenty20 World Cup triumph.
The move came after civil aviation minister Praful Patel warned it was time to act against any move towards cartelisation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation shot off letters to all scheduled domestic carriers asking for information regarding the recent hike and transparency in airfare advertising, saying it should be furnished by Saturday.
Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said the government was considering extending financial support to Air India.
The decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the lockdown across the country will be extended till May 3 to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Divestment in major state-run firms is set to perk up the IPO space, with about six PSUs including Air India, BSNL, Oil India and NHPC, gearing up to sell equity sale in the primary market.
For the past one week, Modi has been holding in-person meetings with Union ministers apparently to take stock of the work done by the government in the last two years and to discuss various issues.
The government is considering allowing the GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd to charge airport development fee from passengers to meet the shortfall in financing the cost of expanding and modernising the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The Centre has ordered a probe into how a crude bomb found its way into the cargo hold of a Kingfisher flight in a "major breach of security", Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Tuesday.
India and Qatar on Wednesday signed a bilateral air services agreement to improve connectivity and decided to further bolster multifaceted ties between the two countries.
UAE's promise of $50-bn investment in Indian infra won't be included.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said some of the airlines have not been settling their dues in time. The minister said several airlines, including international carriers, had outstandings to privatised airports.
Thirty-five of the 77 Union ministers have failed to file annual details of their assets and liabilities before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even over a month after the passage of the deadline.
The accident occurred at 7:45 pm while the pilot was attempting to land the B737 Air India Express from Dubai at the tabletop runway of the Karipur International Airport.
Explaining the precarious financial health of India's flag carrier, the government on Wednesday said Air India earns Rs 36 crore (Rs 360 million) a day from its operations while it spends about Rs 57 crore (Rs 570 million).
The government plans to formulate a separate set of policies for regional airlines, Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Monday.
India's infrastructure sector alone can absorb more than $150 billion of foreign direct investment over the next five years.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Indian airlines had suffered major losses in the past two years over the unprecedented rise in prices of aviation turbine fuel.
no flight will depart or arrive at the Kolkata airport between 9.30 pm of May 3 and 6 pm of May 4
Air India's outstanding debt stood at a whopping Rs 26,033 crore (Rs 260.33 billion) and its working capital loans were over Rs 21,125 crore (Rs 211.25 billion) as on December 31 last year.
Reliance-ASA on Monday emerged as the highest financial bidder for the Delhi airport modernisation project, offering 46 per cent of revenue share to government for the work.
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