Ajit Singh says no intention to privatise Air India

Change of stand by the Civil Aviation Minister came amid mounting pressure by the Opposition parties

Under attack from  Opposition parties, including the Left, for saying the government was ready to privatise Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Sunday backtracked, saying it had “no intention” to do so. “This government has no intention to privatise Air India. After this package of Rs 32,000 crore, the government will not give any more money. Air India will have to fend for itself,” Singh said.

While noting it was very difficult for the government to run a service industry, Singh also said employees and the management of Air India would have to understand aviation was a very competitive market.

“The margins are thin and it’s a capital-intensive industry,” the minister said. The change of stand by the union minister came with mounting pressure from the opposition parties, which took strong objection to his earlier remark and accused him of selling a public asset without bringing a civil aviation policy.     

Warning the minister against making any “off-the-cuff” remark, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said there must be proper discussion. “It is a serious and sensitive issue. There must be proper discussion within the government first and thereafter the views of the opposition need to be taken,” he told reporters here when asked to comment on Singh’s remarks.

Asking the government not to take a “disastrous move” which will go against national interest, senior CPI leader D Raja said the government had promised to bring a civil aviation policy but did not do it in so many years.

"It is undertaking privatisation in bits and pieces without taking Parliament into confidence.

"While equity was not being infused in AI in accordance with the turn around plan, Airports Authority of India (AAI) was also being systematically undermined. This is a conscious effort to dismantle both these public sector undertakings," the CPI National Secretary said.