The decision to allow 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the aviation sector is going to help bring in more investment into the sector, said Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister for Civil Aviation. "The more the sector is opened up, the more investments we are going to see," he told CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan in an exclusive interview. He also talked about India's flag carrier, Air India, saying that the government cannot commit taxpayer money for "eternity" to keep it afloat, but added that the carrier has a definite turnaround plan in place. "FY16 was the first year that Air India posted an operating profit," he pointed out. The government recently tweaked the controversial 5/20 rule (which required airlines to have five years of operation history and minimum 20 aircraft to be able to fly abroad), removing the five year clause while sticking with the 20 aircraft rule. The rationale: "India is a big country and regional connectivity is the priority of the government. We would like the indian players to serve indian skies first," Raju said.
Explaining about why the ministry has announced fare caps on short distance flights on regional routes, the minister said that there were many unserved airports today which would get increased connectivity.
22/06/16 CNBC-TV18/moneycontrol
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Explaining about why the ministry has announced fare caps on short distance flights on regional routes, the minister said that there were many unserved airports today which would get increased connectivity.
22/06/16 CNBC-TV18/moneycontrol
