Italy asks for better air links

Italy seeks to increase the number of flights to and from India. It also wants to include destinations other than Delhi and Mumbai for its carrier, Alitalia.

In return, it is willing to offer landing rights to Indian carriers in more Italian destinations. At present, the Indian carriers are only allowed to fly to Milan.

Though Alitalia had used only 14 of the 17 weekly flights available to them at present, Italian Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Pietro Lunardi told Business Standard that the number of flights would be decided in consultation with the Indian authorities.

He said Italian carriers were interested in flying to cities like Bangalore and Chennai and were willing to offer landing rights in Rome and other cities.

The minister also said Italian companies like Montagna Costruzioni, which has won the contract for the Belgrade airport renovation, could be interested in the privatisation of Indian airports.

While the Indian government has already invited bids for the privatisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports, private participation in other airports are also in the offing.

Lunardi is leading a delegation of 18 Italian companies here, and is looking at forging tie-ups with both, the government as well as private companies, for core-sector projects.

He said Italian companies like Alstom Ferroviaria and Anasaldo Signal, which were part of the delegation, could assist the Indian Railways in meeting its requirements for rolling stock, in the modernisation of the signaling system and also in the proposed high-speed train project.

"Like India, Italy also has pressure on urban transport and Italian companies would be interested in assisting for the development of metro projects as well," he said.

Apart from the Delhi Metro, projects are also planned in Bangalore and Goa. Lunardi and the delegation also met the Investment Commission headed by Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata to discuss ways to increase Italian investment in India.

He said the Investment Commission offered to assist Italian companies in entering a "complicated market" like India. The trans-harbour bridge project in Mumbai was an area of interest for Italian companies, which came up for discussions during the interaction.

Italy is also looking at investment by Indian companies in the Messina bridge project, a three- kilometre suspension bridge.