Secretaries' group to look into merger

Taking the proposed merger of Air-India and Indian one step ahead, the government today formed a Group of Secretaries headed by the cabinet secretary to look into issues regarding the merger and this will meet in two weeks.

The decision to form the Group of Secretaries was taken in today's Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting to speed up the merger of the two national flag carriers.

The GoM has discussed the issues regarding staff integration, stamp duty waiver and other legal implications on the merger issue.

"The Group of Secretaries will meet in the next two weeks. The committee will be represented by ministries of aviation, law, labour and company affairs," said Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

This committee will also examine the feasibility of the report submitted by the consultants for merger, Accenture and Ambit Corporate Finance. The merger exercise is likely to be completed by the beginning of the next financial year.

"Government has mandated that the merger process should be tailored to ensure the salary and status of every employee is protected and integration would be as painless as possible," Patel said.