Aviation policy to aid growth: Patel

An independent regulatory body for the aviation sector will be set up shortly and a bill to this effect is planned to be tabled during the coming Budget session of Parliament.

Announcing this in Bangalore on Thursday, Praful Patel, minister of state for civil aviation added that a comprehensive aviation policy is also being chalked out which should be ready by end-March.

Speaking at a national conference on 'Indian Aviation: Take off to a Dynamic Future' organised by CII as part of the ongoing Aero India 2005 in Bangalore, Patel said: "We are witnessing a lot of growth in the Indian aviation sector and the forthcoming policy with give a fillip to this."

He said the Naresh Chandra Committe Report had done a lot of groundwork to revamp the sector and critical issues like allowing Indian private carriers to fly overseas and the need for a regulatory body are being taken up on an immediate basis.

Patel said that the forthcoming policy will look into how to strengthen the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) now doing the role of a regulator. It has contributed a lot to the aviation sector, he asserted.

Discussing the crucial aspect of central and state levies on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), he said: "These levies of 30 per cent are indeed high when we compare them to international standards of 12-13 per cent. We are exploring options to unbundle the control of our oil public sector undertakings so as to reduce the burden on the airlines."

Commenting on the hurdle-ridden process of builing the Bangalore International Airport, he said that he had got all indications that the airport will be ready by 2007.

A complete presentation on this will be made to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is visiting Bangalore on February 11 & 12, 2005. He also added that the Hyderbabad International Airport will be ready by 2007.

Facing a barrage of questions on the not so good balance sheets of the state owned Indian Airlines and Air India, he said these carriers in the past were neglected and this resulted in their slow growth rate.

"We are clear that these state carriers are needed for our country and steps are being taken to strengthen them," he noted, adding that the $6 billion worth of fleet acquisition is part of the exercise.