AI-IA merger could have been better implemented but for 'sabotage': Praful Patel

New Delhi: Civil aviation minister Praful Patel today suggested the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines could have been better executed but for "a kind of sabotage from within".
Asked about criticism of the merger, he said, "I concede that the merger could have been better executed and implemented. There has been even I would say a kind of sabotage from within. People did not want to see it to be implemented well".
"But the basic concept has been going on since the time of JRD Tata. A couple of times well-meaning people had attempted to merge the two as it made business, economic and technical sense.
"There are no two opinions about whether the merger was required or not. This was not a knee-jerk reaction...It was well thought-out, well planned and made immense economic sense," Patel told NDTV.
He said the merger was done after consulting secretaries and committees.
The minister said government took a conscious decision based on valid technical inputs. "The intentions were good but may be the execution has not been upto the mark," he said.
Patel said government as of now intends to run Air India as a state-owned carrier.
01/04/10 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: NACIL Apr 2010