The Hindu Business Line : PIB meet deferred — Further delay likely in IA fleet acquisition

Official sources said the Ministry of Finance had neither fixed any fresh date for reconvening the meeting nor assigned any reason for the postponement.

New Delhi , Jan. 24

IN a move that could further delay the Rs 10,000-crore 43-aircraft fleet acquisition plan of Indian Airlines, the all-important Public Investment Board (PIB) meeting scheduled for January 29 has been postponed.

Official sources, while confirming the development, said the Ministry of Finance had neither fixed any fresh date for reconvening the meeting nor assigned any reason for the postponement.

"No fresh dates have yet been fixed for the meeting. But there is nothing which prevents the Government from calling the meeting at short notice, especially as the note for the meeting has been circulated well in advance to all Ministries concerned," sources said, when questioned on whether the proposal could be cleared before the general elections are announced.

It is only after the minutes of the yet-to-be convened PIB meeting are forwarded to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) that IA will be allowed to enter into negotiations with the European aircraft manufacturer for purchase of aircraft, sources said.

However, with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, indicating that the entire election process should be completed by April this year, and the truncated Budget session of the Lok Sabha scheduled to end in early February, the postponement of the PIB meeting could well mean that the IA fleet acquisition plan will now be taken up only by the new Government.

While the IA board had cleared the proposal to acquire 43 Airbus aircraft (A-321, A-320 and A-319) at an estimated cost of around Rs 10,000 crore in April 2002, the proposal was cleared by the pre-PIB only towards the middle of 2003, thereby clearing the way for holding of the PIB meeting.