Ahead of the passage of the Finance Bill in Parliament, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh is understood to have shot off a letter to the Finance Ministry protesting the proposal on the grounds that the move would not only hit passengers but spell more trouble for the airlines which were already reeling under severe financial stress.
The Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the proposal to hike foreign direct investment limit in civil aviation sector from 40 to 49 per cent, official sources said.
To enable Indian banks and financial institutions to develop an aircraft-leasing ecosystem at GIFT City, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has sought support from the Ministry of Finance. It has also raised concern over slow progress in developing aircraft leasing in India.
The government is expected to take a decision tomorrow on the issue of allowing foreign airlines to buy up to 49 per cent stake in cash-starved Indian carriers.
The civil aviation ministry is holding talks with the finance ministry on rationaliation of sales tax on aviation turbine fuel and airport taxes.
The cost of any flight from Delhi and Mumbai could rise by up to Rs 3,000 soon unless the airport regulator is able to reverse a court order.
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
'Government shouldn't be in the business of running airlines, instead it should develop the ecosystem of civil aviation.'
In a bid to bring down the cost of air operations, Aviation and Petroleum ministries will meet FM to get ATF notified as 'declared good'.
The civil aviation ministry has sought continuation of the exemption on withholding tax on aircraft leased from foreign companies in the next budget for another year, saying it would benefit several airlines in the country.
To tap Indian civil aviation market's growth potential, the government on Saturday announced a modified regional air connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) to connect 120 new destinations, airport projects in Bihar and upgradation of infrastructure for air cargo in the Union Budget.
There are 394 unserved and 16 under-served airports in the country.
The DGCA will concentrate only on technical and safety aspects.
Aviation Minister Praful Patel has requested FM to rationalise taxes on aviation fuel in Budget 2008-09.
Maintaining that civil aviation flew thousands of tonnes of equipment and passengers across the country on a daily basis, he said grant of infrastructure status would help the industry in its dealings with the RBI as well as the commercial banks, both in the private and public sectors. On Kingfisher's global plan, Mallya said the airline would launch services to Hong Kong and Singapore as soon as its aircraft were ready.
Economic Affairs Secretary Ashok Chawla has been appointed as Finance Secretary in the ministry of finance with effect from Tuesday. The post of Finance Secretary fell vacant following retirement of Arun Ramanathan, who was also Secretary of Financial Services.
In the absence of the aviation policy, all decisions in aviation sector are left to the whims and fantasy of the ministry.
The Union civil aviation ministry would take up the issue with the finance ministry, Patel said, expressing the hope that the latter would respond favourably to the civil aviation ministry's representation.
This was in response to the assertion of some officials of the finance ministry and the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion that a strategically placed comma in DIPP's press note on FDI in civil aviation meant foreign airlines were allowed to hold up to 49 per cent stake in existing Indian carriers, as well as new airline companies being set up.
A panel led by the secretaries of the DEA and the DIPP would conduct a quarterly review on the pending proposals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia to take stock of the situation following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir. The meeting also included Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The attack, which killed at least 26 people, including tourists from the UAE and Nepal, has sparked nationwide shock and outrage.
The finance ministry on Wednesday reimposed expenditure curbs on ministries and government departments for July-September quarter. There will be no spending restrictions on the ministries of health, rural development, agriculture, MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) and railways as part of a two-pronged strategy. "The existing guidelines for expenditure control have been reviewed. "Keeping in view the evolving situation arising out of Covid-19 and anticipated cash position of the government, it is felt essential to regulate Quarterly Expenditure Plan (QEP)/Monthly Expenditure Plan (MEP) of specific ministries/departments for July-September, 2021," the Department of Economic Affairs in the finance ministry said in a notification.
Airline told to transfer non-core assets, subsidiaries to special purpose vehicle
While a demand for allocation of Rs. 2,000 crore has already been made, sources said provision for Rs. 1,200 crore worth of equity could be made in the Budget.
There is no clarity on the stand taken by the PM on many issues plaguing the aviation sector
There is no reason for keeping an entire ministry with a total staff strength of 2,300, just for the oversight of a few aviation sector laws and regulatory bodies, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The ministry of civil aviation will seek a complete rollback of service tax levied on domestic air travel in the recent Budget, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Wednesday.In his Budget speech on February 26, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had proposed a service tax of 10 per cent on both domestic and international travel. Earlier, the service tax was restricted only for international travel.
According to the package, the dues will be cleared in six monthly instalments by March 2009. Current ATF purchases will get 90 days' credit, supported by bank guarantees. Also, jet fuel price revisions will henceforth happen every fortnight. Praful Patel on Thursday admitted in the Lok Sabha that it may take another two months to make the recently-opened third runway at the Delhi airport fully operational.
A decision on upgradation of Delhi and Mumbai airports is likely to be taken by the finance ministry in a week's time as part of government's efforts to create world-class civil aviation infrastructure in the country.\n\n
The NCP leader said that he will be happy to cooperate with the ED so that the agency understands the "complexities" of the aviation sector.
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
In 2015, India's domestic aviation market clocked 81 million flights.
In his second term in office, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has retained 34 portfolios.
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