Final aviation policy is similar to draft: Rajiv Nayan Choubey

Interview with Civil Aviation Secretary

The draft civil aviation policy was released in October last year. Since then, the government's attempt to implement the policy has been thwarted multiple times as disagreements arose between it and the industry. In an interview with Arindam Majumder, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey says the final policy is ready to be sent to the Cabinet and is substantially similar to the draft. Edited excerpts:

Why has the civil aviation policy been missing multiple deadlines?

This country never had an integrated policy on civil aviation. We are attempting something historic. Since it addresses all sectors of aviation, it is a fairly large policy. There are 22 items. Lots of people have lots of ideas. We received suggestions from across the sector. So, it naturally took a lot of time. But we have concluded dialogues with all stakeholders and now the policy is ready to be sent to the Cabinet.

There is a perception the ministry is bowing down to pressure from some private companies.

Not at all. The government does not stop functioning because of some threat. We respect others' concerns, too. We have attempted a policy where we have taken suggestions from everyone and tried to address all concerns. Legal challenge is everyone's right. If such things happen, we have the option to fight it out in court. But I want to reiterate, we have formed a policy that has taken care of everyone's concerns.

Many forward-looking and liberal proposals were made in the policy. Has there been any opposition from other ministries towards it?

Opposition is a wrong term.When there is an integrated policy, there are bound to be disagreements. These issues are resolved after discussions. We have received inputs from a dozen ministries. We have taken them on board. Though there were differences in opinions, the final policy is substantially similar to the draft policy, which was released in October.

Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi take interest in the formation of the policy?

He showed interest in it. He gave broad guidelines, including making flying affordable, increasing transparency in the sector, improving tourism and skill development. The policy will address these.