The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the purchase of 68 aircraft by the country's flagship carrier Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday.
The aircraft to be inducted by Indian Airlines are 19 Airbus A 319s, Four A 320s and 20 Airbus A 321s.
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.
According to top sources in the government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday asked the ministry to take an initiative, even as the turmoil in the ailing airline deepened.
"I hope the entire airline (Air India) will come back to full operation from tomorrow (Wednesday), otherwise the Air India management will be free to take any decision that it feels is necessary," Patel said in a veiled threat.
With the agitation by Air India executive pilots entering the fourth day on Tuesday, the airline cancelled over 20 flights, including 15 from the national capital, and suspended bookings for the next 15 days.
Mortal remains of senior NCP leader and ex-Home Minister R R Patil are kept at the party office in Mumbai.
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."
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The crucial, neck-to-neck contest was necessitated as the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded three candidates while Shiv Sena put up two and Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party one each.
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National carriers stood second-last among eight of the scheduled domestic airlines in percentage terms of on-time performance in departures during 2008, government said on Tuesday.
Some of the operational goals the carrier has set for itself are 25 million domestic and 15 million international passengers by 2015.
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.
"We have appointed SBI Caps. Soon, we would be getting feedback on what would be the short-, medium- and long-term restructuring required for Air India," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said while speaking at an event on India Aviation 2010 international exhibition in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The airline's current board has only one independent director -- N Vaghul, ex-chairman of ICICI, while the remaining nine are either from the civil aviation ministry or the airline itself. On the requirement of funds for reviving the national carrier, Patel said that a revival plan on the financial side is expected from SBI Caps soon.
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.
To overcome hurdles in land acquisition for airport projects, the government is planning to allow private players to build airports on their own land.
The Group of Ministers, which is reviewing the recovery path of Air India, will meet next month to discuss the infusion of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) as equity and review the steps taken by the national carrier for achieving a turnaround.
The Centre is planning to offer 20-25 per cent of its stake in Indian Airlines and Air-India to the public and the national carriers will have the same status like the listed public sector oil companies on the stock exchanges.
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Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a Rs 50-crore (Rs 500-million) aviation turbine fuel pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation from Manali to Chennai, the minister said: "Air India will not sack employees but financial and organisational restructuring is on the cards."
"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.
The proceeds of the IPO are expected to be ploughed into activities like expanding the fleet of the airline, which was earlier merged with its sister carrier Indian.
Dr Manmohan Singh's government has 47 crorepati ministers in it. Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel is the richest of the lot with assets worth Rs 89.9 crore.
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2021 scheduled to take place on 11-30 October 2022 will be held in India as planned.
The government on Wednesday asked promoters of the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) to keep in mind local sensibilities during its modernisation amid claims of change of name of the airport.The Civil Aviation Ministry has strongly refuted allegations that the present name of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is being altered and the location of the statue of the warrior king is being replaced.
In a setback to the Managlore airport, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said he would "re-look" into the international status given to the Mangalore airport following Saturday's air crash.
Air India delayed the payment of March salary to its employees by a month as it had to meet year-end expenses for various purposes, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
The Centre asked state governments on Friday to review and rationalise their taxation policy on jet fuel and land acquisition practices to encourage the expansion of civil aviation sector so that they could themselves reap the benefits of its unprecedented growth.
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.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday sought to downplay the controversy that kicked up after "mischievous" remarks were made about Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the NCP-supported magazine Rashtravadi.
The biggest constraint to achieve a higher growth rate in South Asia is infrastructure. Growth in the region could have been higher if more investment in infrastructure would have been made, says Patel.
The decision on additional grant would also be taken keeping in view the high cost debt 'both current and long term' taken by Air India.
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 Civil Aviation Ministry has recommended an equity infusion of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) in Air India in the next financial year after the beleaguered national carrier gets Rs 1,200 crore soon.
