West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation chairman Somnath Chatterjee said the Tata-Singapore Airlines project would affect the viability and future development of Indian Airlines. He said the project was against the national interests.
In a message to the Prime Minister, Chatterjee said the proposed induction of 150-seater aircraft by Tata-SIA would seriously affect the market share of Indian Airlines as the route structure of this project will be the same as that of IA. He also referred to the Lok Sabha discussion on the issue during the last session when almost all sections of the House opposed the induction of foreign airlines in the domestic sector.
He said the civil aviation minister had announced that the government would not allow equity participation by foreign airlines in domestic carriers.
Chatterj0ee said that there is no reason for going back on the announcement and it would be appreciated if the matter was clarified by the Prime Minister.
He requested the Prime Minister to see to it that a firm stand was taken on this issue since a lot of confusion has already been created by the clearance granted by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
In separate fax messages to the finance minister, civil aviation minister and the industries minister, Chatterjee has requested them for their necessary action in this matter.
