The Hindu Business Line : Govt says no link between granting rights, airline's IPO

THE Government on Thursday maintained in the Lok Sabha that there was no link between its decision to allow Indian scheduled carriers to operate on international routes and the initial public offering (IPO) issue of a particular airline.

In a statement tabled in the House, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, said that it was not the function of the Government to keep track of IPO issues of private enterprises. "In any case, Government decisions are not guided by dates of issues of IPOs of private companies," the Minister said.

Mr Patel's statement came in response to observations made in a recent report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture. The committee had said that it was not convinced with the reply given by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on its decision to open up the international skies to a particular airline and granting it passage rights on some international routes on the opening day of its public offer.

While neither the committee report nor the Minister's statement mentions the airline by name, the only airline to come out with an IPO has been Jet Airways. The day the airline's IPO hit the market, news came out that the Government had given Jet Airways permission to fly three-times-a-week between India and the US.

Emphasising that the policy to allow private airlines into the international skies was not something new, Mr Patel said that the proposal had been under consideration of the Government for a long time. To support his contention, the Minister quoted an October 2003 joint statement of the Prime Ministers of India and Sri Lanka announcing that Indian private carriers would be encouraged to operate to Sri Lanka.

"The matter was subsequently considered by the Cabinet during the previous Government and a decision was taken on December 10, 2003 to allow private airlines to all SAARC countries," the Minister said.

At the same Cabinet meeting, the Ministry of Civil Aviation was directed to bring a comprehensive note on liberalising international air services. "The proposal to allow private airlines to operate on international routes has been under consideration of the Government for a long time and was not a hasty decision taken by the present Government," Mr Patel said.

The Minister added that the facts clearly reveal that the Government decision had nothing whatsoever to do with the IPO issue. "It would be a little far fetched to try and link the two when there is no link and it would be unfair to impute motives where none exist," the Minister said while assuring the House that "we work with complete transparency and accountability".

Reiterating that the decisions by the Government were not guided by any vested interest but were taken in the overall public interest, the Minister said there was "no necessity" for any further enquiry into this issue by an independent inquiry. "We have been completely transparent and there is no issue that needs to be investigated," Mr Patel said.

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