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Ashwini Phadnis

New Delhi , April 27

IN what would come as a boost to the fortunes of Indian Airlines (IA), the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday sought the comments of some other key Ministries on the airlines' 43-Airbus aircraft multi-billion dollar fleet acquisition proposal.

Official sources told Business Line that the Ministry of Civil Aviation would wait for two weeks for the comments of the other Ministries before taking the acquisition proposal to the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA).

The airline Board had approved a proposal to purchase 43-Airbus aircraft including the Airbus A-319, Airbus A-320 and Airbus A-321 in March 2002.

The proposal, valued at Rs 9,475 crore, has not only been cleared by the Public Investment Board (PIB) but the Budget 2005-06 also provided a budgetary support of Rs 325 crore for the acquisition plan.

Besides, the Finance Ministry has also agreed to provide a sovereign guarantee that should help IA raise funds in the international markets for the acquisition plan.

Despite the support of the various Government agencies, it could take up to 18 months from the time the final contract is signed between IA and the manufacturer for the first aircraft to be delivered to the airline.

IA has been leasing aircraft in the interim to cater to the growing demands of the market.

The airline is also soon expected to take a decision on leasing wide-body aircraft that it is expected to utilise to launch more international flights.

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