Aircraft acquisition in interest of nation: Patel

Bhandra: Union minister for heavy industries Praful Patel, who was in the eye of a controversy over the acquisition of 111 aircraft for Air India during his tenure as civil aviation minister, on Saturday charged that the opposition parties and a section of the media were targeting and trying to malign his image.
Addressing a press conference at MIT Engineering College auditorium in Gondia, Patel defended the decision, saying that in fierce aviation competition it is difficult to run the companies like Air India and Indian Airlines unless some bold decisions are taken. He refuted the allegations levelled against him by Dr Gopal Kondawar, a businessman from Nagpur, that as a civil aviation minister in UPA-I, Patel had sacrificed the interests of these two government-owned airlines that benefitted the private sector companies. Dr Kondawar had alleged that induction of new aircraft in the fleet by spending billions of dollars had caused heavy losses while the private airlines raked in money. But Patel termed the charges as baseless and said the aircraft were acquired to revive the fortunes of the government-owned airlines.
26/09/11 Times of India

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

Categories: Air India Sep 2011