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Our Bureau

THE CIVIL AVIATION MINISTER, Mr Praful Patel, with the Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, Mr Taieb Cherif, at a meeting in the Capital on Tuesday. — Kamal Narang

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New Delhi Feb. 6 Even as the Government considers a proposal to allow foreign airlines to acquire a minority stake in domestic cargo operations, it is not in favour of permitting foreign airlines to acquire a stake in domestic airlines.

Instead, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, has mooted the idea of airlines from India examining the possibility of acquiring airline companies abroad.

"If the Tatas can be successful in their bid for acquiring Corus, why should our airlines not look at reverse engineering and picking up airlines abroad," Mr Patel said on Monday night. The Minister also called upon the airlines to stay better capitalised in order to leverage their strengths.

The Minister was speaking to the media after receiving an award from the travel, tourism and hospitality industry.

Asked why the Government was not in favour of allowing foreign airlines to pick up a stake in domestic carriers at the moment, Mr Patel pointed out that even the US pegs foreign direct investment at 25 per cent for a foreign airline seeking a stake in domestic airlines.

"If we allow foreign airlines to pick up a stake in the domestic industry then domestic airlines could be sitting ducks. The situation in the cargo business is different. We need to have huge investments to ensure that the material reaches those who it is meant for. Our airlines are strong domestically but they do not have the global reach as yet to achieve this," the Minister said.

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