Air India Unlikely To Buy More Planes In Current Government Tenure

New Delhi: Air India is unlikely to go ahead with a plan to purchase more passenger jets from plane makers Boeing Co. (BA) and Airbus during the remaining tenure of the current federal government.
"The time frame (the government's tenure) is limited. Air India's new orders are now off the radar," a senior civil aviation ministry official, who didn't want to be identified, said Wednesday. "We can always lease capacity (planes) if required."
Many expect the federal government, emboldened by Tuesday's trust vote win, to now barrel through several long-stalled reforms, which may include stake sales in state-run companies. The coalition government came to power in May 2004 for a period of five years.
Liberal policy steps were almost frozen for the last four years as the then coalition partner - the Left-leaning parties - opposed divestments in state-run companies.
"Yes, there is no pressure from the Left parties now. But time is too short otherwise we could have thought of issues such as reviewing foreign investment limit in airlines, disinvestment of Air India," the official said.
The country's civil aviation ministry is also planning to put together a proposal to plough funds into the flag carrier to help it finance its daily operations and expand equity base.
23/07/08 Nitin Luthra/Dow Jones Newswires/CNNMoney.com

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: NACIL Jul 2008