Intense lobbying on the 5/20 rule seems to be delaying the finalisation of the civil aviation policy.
The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which includes Jet, IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet, has been lobbying the government to ensure that the 5/20 rule remains, while Vistara and AirAsia want this rule to be removed or amended.
Since the Union Cabinet approved the 5/20 rule in December 2004 this can now be changed only by the Cabinet. The civil aviation policy can be finalised only after the Cabinet decides on the 5/20 rule.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told
The process The process of sending any item to the Union Cabinet includes sending the minutes of a meeting (in this case of the outcome of the informal meeting of the group of ministers) to other Ministries who are then given 15 days to respond. After this the Union Cabinet is approached for its final view on the issue.
“As such there is no time frame on sending the policy (to the Cabinet). But we hope to send it to the Cabinet by the end of the month,” the Minister said.
Calling the informal meeting of various ministries a “manthan” or churning process, senior officials said that this was a good way to ensure that misgivings, if any, on the civil aviation policy are addressed properly.
Earlier, addressing a press conference, RN Choubey, Civil Aviation Secretary, said it will be wrong to say that the views of the interested parties had not been heard.
“We do not send out letters (inviting them for a meeting on the 5/20 rule). We wrote to the FIA. Whether the promoters come or their representatives come is their call,” he said. FIA has alleged that it has not received any invitation and said that the issue of 5/20 was very important which needed to be explained by the promoters.
He said this was the first time that an integrated policy was being developed so, “there are issues where the stake holders views have been very diverse.”