New Delhi: After allowing Abu Dhabi a near fourfold increase in bilateral airline seat entitlements, the Centre is likely to do the same for Qatar. India, though, is looking to extract concessions in the form of a discount on LNG supplies from the West Asian country in lieu of any increase in the cap on the number of flights between the two nations.
National security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon has proposed that India seek a discount on LNG supplies from Qatar as a precondition to allowing its national airline an increase in weekly seat entitlements, a move that could potentially help Qatar Airways earn close to $200 million over 10 years.
At a meeting on October 29, Menon suggested that India’s Petronet LNG (PLL) negotiate a long-term price for an extra 3 million tonnes of LNG from Qatar’s Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas (RasGas) to “match the concessions” that could arise from the increase in seat sharing with Qatar Airways. At a meeting of the ministries called by the PMO, the civil aviation ministry had been instructed to work out details pertaining to the number of seats that could be increased, said a senior civil aviation ministry official who attended the meeting. Present at the meeting were officials from the petroleum and natural gas and the external affairs ministries as also officials from the department of industrial policy and promotion.
12/11/13 Mihir Mishra, Amitav Ranjan/Financial Express
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National security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon has proposed that India seek a discount on LNG supplies from Qatar as a precondition to allowing its national airline an increase in weekly seat entitlements, a move that could potentially help Qatar Airways earn close to $200 million over 10 years.
At a meeting on October 29, Menon suggested that India’s Petronet LNG (PLL) negotiate a long-term price for an extra 3 million tonnes of LNG from Qatar’s Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas (RasGas) to “match the concessions” that could arise from the increase in seat sharing with Qatar Airways. At a meeting of the ministries called by the PMO, the civil aviation ministry had been instructed to work out details pertaining to the number of seats that could be increased, said a senior civil aviation ministry official who attended the meeting. Present at the meeting were officials from the petroleum and natural gas and the external affairs ministries as also officials from the department of industrial policy and promotion.
12/11/13 Mihir Mishra, Amitav Ranjan/Financial Express
