Pranab: Cockpit view

New Delhi, July 2: The Centre today set up a group of ministers under external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee to study the civil aviation policy.

This follows differences among various ministries on the details of the policy.

There was no consensus on the carving out of the air traffic control department from the Airport Authority of India, allowing more private carriers to fly abroad and taking over large chunks of airspace from the Air Force.

The differences had cropped up at a cabinet meeting last month. It was then decided to set up a group of ministers. The group includes agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, railway minister Lalu Prasad, home minister Shivraj Patil, defence minister A. K. Antony, law minister H. R. Bharadwaj and finance minister P. Chidambaram.

Other members are urban development minister Jaipal Reddy, shipping and transport minister T. R. Baalu, tourism minister Ambika Soni, minister of state for civil aviation Praful Patel and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

There have been concerns in the defence ministry over proposals to hand over control of large chunks of airspace to civil aviation authorities.

The IAF operates from 56 airports and controls more than half the airspace in the country. The draft policy does not recognise this and has not taken the IAF’s views on the issue.

The policy wanted to hive off the traffic control department from the AAI to form a separate company. However, many at the cabinet meeting opposed the proposal because it would reduce the AAI’s income. The opposition to letting domestic carriers fly abroad was over the absence of specific rules.

The civil aviation ministry wanted the right to vet each application on a “need basis.”

However, the other ministries wanted proper guidelines on airlines flying abroad.

Existing rules allow domestic carriers with at least five years of experience and a fleet of 20 aircraft to operate global flights.

The carriers are divided on this issue.

Older players do not want the norms to be relaxed, but the newer ones such as Kingfisher and SpiceJet want the permission to fly abroad as soon as possible. This will help them balance the losses in the domestic sector.

Passengers to the Asean regions are likely to get a wider choice of airlines from the country.

Sources said the government may change the rules for this region. India has signed a treaty to open up the four metros to almost daily flights by airlines from the Asean.

Vision 2020 — the name for the new aviation policy — does not relax the norms that cap foreign direct investment at 49 per cent and disallows foreign airlines from directly or indirectly owning any stake in Indian carriers.

If the finance ministry had its way, the entry of foreign airlines as shareholders would have happened much earlier.