Ajit Singh meets Sonia Gandhi amidst Jet-Etihad deal row
Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh met Congress President Sonia Gandhi amidst concerns over the deal surroundinf Jet Airways and Etihad Airways.
July 04, 2013 / 14:20 IST
Civil Aviation minister Ajit Singh on Thursday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi amidst concerns over the Jet-Etihad deal. Ajit Singh has been defending the deal while questions have been raised on it.
An inter-ministerial group, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had earlier flagged off three concerns on the deal. Concerns have been primarily raised on the proposed ownership and control structure of the domestic airlines.Also read: Ajit Singh bats for Jet-Etihad deal; Jet's Goyal meets FMHowever, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh tried to play down the issue. He said the deal, if approved, will see the largest FDI in India. Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has been defending the deal while questions have been raised on it.The Prime Minister's Office had on Tuesday denied reports that the government was divided over India-UAE (Abu Dhabi) Bilateral Air Services Agreement on Jet Airways-Etihad and accused the media of spreading baseless and incorrect reports. "The allegations in some media are factually incorrect and baseless. There is absolutely no disagreement within the government or between the Ministers and Prime Minister on the matter. The Prime Minister is neither washing his hands off the Bilateral Air Services Agreement nor is the Prime Minister's Office trying to do a U-turn on the issue now," the PMO clarified on the matter.The PMO said Bilateral Air Services Agreement and a Private Equity Stake proposal were two different matters. "There are two distinctly different matters being reported by the media. The first is the enhancement of seat entitlements under a Bilateral Air Services Agreement between India- Abu Dhabi," said the PMO.Elaborating that they were two different deals, the PMO added that inter-government agreement on bilateral air traffic seat entitlements and concerns the governments of the two countries while the Jet-Eithad deal is a private agreement between two private entities. "Such agreements, as they involve foreign direct investment, have to be as per the laws of the land and any government policies in place in this regard. Being distinct issues and between different categories of entities, the two matters need to be handled separately without mixing them up," the statement added."As far as the Bilateral Air Services Agreement is concerned, the facts are simple. Changes in seat entitlements under Bilateral Air Services Agreements are normally entered into by the Ministry of Civil Aviation with its counterparts in other countries. These changes are done through an MOU and do not need approval at higher levels," it said.Sources have told CNN-IBN that the PMO is wary of being dragged into another 2G-like controversy, more so since the number of bilateral weekly seats between Abu Dhabi and Delhi were dramatically increased from 13,330 to 36,370 just before deal. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
