Montek counters Patel on airport delay charge

"The review that I did was a routine review. It is an important part of the management that Planning Commission looks at," Ahluwalia said on the meeting with officials of DIAL, the Delhi airport developer, that sparked the row between him and Patel.

"The notion that we are holding back is perhaps not correct... It (any public project) goes through different procedures and goes up to Cabinet for approval," he shot back to Patel's charges that the plan body had delayed awarding of Delhi and Mumbai airport revamp projects.

Reacting to summoning of officials of DIAL, a GMR group company, by Ahluwalia after he found deficiency in services, Patel had shot off a letter laced with sarcasm, saying the Kolkata and Chennai airport projects too were being delayed by objections raised by the Planning Commission.

"This is despite the fact that the Committee on Infrastructure, headed by the Prime Minister, has categorically approved the project," the letter said.

On his part, Ahluwalia said, "There are always different points of view of the different ministries on how a public sector project is carried on".

He, however, said that problems at the Delhi airport, particularly relating to security clearances, were not in the control of the airport managers and "we are taking that up with relevant ministries that is what these reviews are for".

Ahluwalia hoped that by end of June the throughput capacity of Delhi airport would increase substantially and by the end of the year a temporary additional terminal would become available which would reduce the delays quite a bit.

On the issue of delays being faced by passengers at the airport in the national capital, Patel had said, "It is necessary to point out that upgradation and modernisation of existing airports growing at 40 per cent plus annually is a challenging proposition.