New Delhi: Amid a debate whether its entry will impact airfares, the Finance Ministry is likely to take up next month the investment proposal of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia which seeks to enter India through a joint venture with the Tata Group. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is holding a meeting on March 6 and the proposal of AirAsia Investment Ltd, Malaysia, has been listed on the agenda. AirAsia has applied to FIPB to take 49 percent in a venture with Tata Sons Ltd and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd, the Malaysian company had announced this week. This will mark the return of Tata to aviation. State-owned Air India had grown out of Tata Airlines, which began flights in 1932.
This will be the first entry of an foreign carrier in the domestic airlines after the government liberalised the aviation FDI policy in September. The new policy allows foreign carriers to invest in Indian airlines.
23/02/13 One India
