High-flying Modi faces Cong ire

Gandhinagar: In the last four years, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has used these luxury aircraft over a hundred times.And it's all at the expense of corporates having business interests in Gujarat.
* Essar Group has provided its aircraft meant for its chairman Shashi Ruia 14 times * Reliance group has flown Modi nine times on a pan-Atlantic jet * Adani Brothers have helped Modi reach global destinations nine times
The Opposition Congress isn't amused and is demanding corruption cases be filed against Modi.
According to documents available with NDTV, Modi has flown over 1700 hours on these aircraft.
This includes trips to Beijing, Singapore, Russia, Switzerland and Sydney.
On an average, each hour spent in the sky costs $2200. That excludes airport usage charges, crew allowances and night-parking charges.
The BJP says the trips were needed to usher in foreign investment.
But as per data released recently by the Government of India, Gujarat has slipped two positions and now ranks 6th in terms of attracting FDI. NDTV approached each corporate house that flew Modi and Vaghela but none of them was willing to comment. Off camera, corporates having business interests in Gujarat say they don't have an option. A small price to keep them in business.
08/10/07 Joydeep Ray/NDTV.com

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Categories: General Aviation Oct 2007