Jet to get back airport slots after resolution process ends: Minister

Government remains 'committed to the strategic sale of Air India', says Jayant Sinha.

Slots and counters will be returned to Jet Airways after the debt resolution process is over for the airline, said Jayant Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation,, on Tuesday. 

“The bank-led resolution process is on and we have received some bids. Let’s see how it unfolds,” said Sinha in an event organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata.

 “In the interim, certain assets (of Jet Airways) have been reassigned on a temporary basis. These will be reassigned back to Jet Airways once the resolution process is over,” he said.

Sinha said his government remains “committed to the strategic sale of Air India” while it takes steps to make the state-owned carrier a vibrant, global airline. 

He said that only one airport was built annually under the last government, but the Narendra Modi government had set up 30 operational airports in five years 

Sinha claimed his government’s economic success is built primarily on five pillars: monetary policy, taxes rationalisation, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), infrastructure buildup and social security. 

“The RBI has signed a commitment with the Indian government to maintain a four per cent inflation. It is because the government controlled price increase and inflation, it is no more an election issue”, he said. 

While claiming that the implementation of GST has contributed towards changing the fiscal architecture of the country, Sinha said that the IBC has helped change the borrowers’ behaviour and has led to lower borrowing cost. 

“IBC has changed the relationship between the creditor and the borrower. Now many cases are getting settled before going to the NCLT,” he said. 

He said that as compared to the previous Congress-led governments, the rate of road construction has doubled while social security schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Jan Dhan Yojana and other schemes have benefited people.