List of good intentions

November 12, 2014 12:33 am | Updated November 16, 2021 04:46 pm IST

As many of his predecessors have done, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has unveiled another >draft aviation policy , which he hopes to implement by next year. It is more of a broad statement of intent, without going into the specifics. Mr. Raju has touched upon all the major issues and problems faced by the sector, but has not exactly come up with solutions. It may not be fair to expect the Minister to just wave a magic wand and resolve all the issues that have plagued the aviation sector over the decades. But this is perhaps the best time for the NDA government and Mr. Raju to take some bold initiatives and address all the pending problems. New airlines are coming into being and people are realising the benefits of air travel, but there are several major obstacles for the airlines to grow and be profitable. What takes the cake is the announcement of yet another committee or panel to look afresh at the future of Air India, which has remained the country’s big white elephant for too long. Something drastic needs to be done, and done quickly, before crores of rupees of public money go down the drain. Given its condition, there can be no suitors for a strategic partnership, and listing it on the stock exchange may end up as a disaster. The government has to make up its mind about privatisation, sooner than later.

The need of the hour remains the growth and development of airports. While Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru have shown the way on PPP models, the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) projects in Kolkata and Chennai have been disasters. The Aviation Ministry has to set this right and get a private partner to redeem these airports, besides strengthening and developing smaller airports for the existing and new airlines to operate. The ravaged Visakhapatnam airport and a ‘real’ airport for Vijayawada must be at the top of his priorities. The AAI may be a profitable enterprise, but it needs to be corporatised and restructured in order to make it efficient. As far as the airlines are concerned, the cost of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) is the major concern, as it contributes to over 40 per cent of the cost of operations. The recent drop in global crude prices and consequently of ATF provides some relief. But Mr. Raju has to work with the Finance Ministry and the State governments to rationalise taxes, basically VAT, to reduce the burden. The advent of GST may solve this problem, as and when it comes into being. Since the Minister has promised to firm up the policy by January and get it through the Cabinet, the civil aviation sector as a whole hopes that he will work on the specifics and come up with a time-bound, implementable framework that will not only help all segments of the aviation business but also protect the interests of passengers.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.