Search Result for : Ashok Gajapathi Raju

Indigo interested to buy out Air Indias international services

The Dollar Business Bureau  Soon after the Cabinet cleared the consideration of Air India's disinvestment, leading domestic airline IndiGo has shown its willingness in buying the flight operations of the national carrier, specifically overseas services.  IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh sent a letter to the Minister of Civil Aviation Gajapathi Raju expressing interest to buy out the international services of Air India as the airline looks to spread its operations overseas.  “Kindly treat this letter as our expression of interest in acquiring the international airline operations of Air India and Air India Express. Alternatively, we are equally interested in acquiring all of the airline operations of Air India and Air India Express,” said Ghosh in the letter.  IndiGo is a leader in the domestic market ...

India-UK agree to allow more flights to boost tourism and trade

The Dollar Business Bureau In order to give a boost to trade and tourism, India and the UK on Thursday agreed for easing limits on the number of scheduled flights between the two countries. Restrictions have been scrapped on flights from major cities of India, including Kolkata and Chennai, allowing for larger number of flights for passengers. “India is one of our closest allies and key trading partners and this new agreement will only serve to strengthen this crucial relationship. We are unlocking new trade and tourism opportunities which will boost our economies, create new jobs and open up new business links,” said UK’s Aviation Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon. With around 2.5 million passengers directly flying between the two countries every year, and ...

Govt to spend Rs. 16k cr in the next 5 yrs on airport infrastructure

Niladri Nath The government is now working on a national level plan to make unused airstrips operational again, which will offer easy air connectivity to the people who are living in far-flung areas of the country. For this, the government will be spending Rs.16,000 crore in the next five years to upgrade the airport infrastructure, said Civil Aviation Secretary R. N. Choubey on Friday.   Choubey was speaking at the Aviation Summit 2017, jointly organised by Ministry of Civil Aviation, government of Andhra Pradesh and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Vijaywada city of Andhra Pradesh. “We want to increase the number of air passengers to such a level that in the next five to seven years, India will become the third ...

Maha first state to sign RCS plan, to develop 10 small airports

PTI   Maharashtra today became the first state to sign an agreement with the civil aviation ministry to develop 10 almost non-functional regional airports/airstrips helping move closer to reality the Centre's ambitious regional connectivity plan. The fully subsidised regional connectivity scheme (RCS) seeks to cap ticket prices so as to make flying more affordable and accessible to the common man and is part of the ambitious National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 cleared by the Cabinet on June 15. The agreement was inked in the presence of Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and top Airport Authority officials. The 10 airports to be developed under the plan are Kolhapur, Shirdi, Amravati, Gondia, Nashik, Jalgaon, Nanded, Solapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, wherein the state will ...

There could be many a slip between the cup and the lip

The “anarchic” 5/20 rule, as the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju puts it, has been finally abolished! Though the respite is partial, the new rule in place will definitely enable a few new airlines like Vistara and Air Asia to pursue their international dreams, and really soon! Well, they now call it the “industry-friendly” 0/20. The earlier 5/20 rule required a domestic carrier to be in operations for at least five years and have a fleet of 20 aircraft, if it wanted to fly international skies. While the new rule scraps the mandate to have five years of domestic operations, it does want an airline to keep aside 20 aircraft or 20% of their total fleet (whichever is higher) ...

Govt will not hike urea prices for the next 3 yrs

The Dollar Business Bureau The government decided not to hike urea prices for the next three years, said Union MoS for Chemical and Fertilizers, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir. While addressing the gathering present at the NDA government’s ‘Vikas Parv,’ Ahir stated that some measures have to be implemented to benefit farmers as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government strives for the welfare of the farmers. Ahir was accompanied by the Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju for the event. The minister advised farmers to use neem-coated urea as it requires less investment and output too increases than with the usage of the regular urea, Ahir added. Meanwhile, plans are afoot to revive FCI’s Talcher fertilizer plant which may commence soon with an investment of Rs.6000 crore. ...

Trying to change 5/20 anarchic rule: Raju

PTI Terming the 5/20 rule which allows Indian carriers to fly abroad as "anarchic", India's Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday said he was trying to change it so that new airlines can connect with foreign destinations. Raju said, in Lok Sabha, that the government wants more Indian airlines to fly to foreign destinations but as long as the 5/20 rule is not changed, they cannot fly abroad. The rule entails that an airline can fly to international destinations only if it has served within the country for five years and has a 20-aircraft fleet. "The more the merrier. It is a fact that 5/20 rule came from a particular Cabinet at a particular point of time. To my mind, it ...

Indian aviation taxied on runway of promises

Source: PTI Fliers might have to shell out more from next year with the government proposing 2% levy on all tickets to fund regional connectivity plans   Many highs and lows marked the 2015 trajectory of domestic aviation space with three airlines taking off, one coming back after a near-collapse, a no-frills carrier getting listed and India again securing top safety ranking even as the draft aviation policy remained in limbo. All said and done, fliers might have to shell out more from next year with the government proposing 2% levy on all tickets to fund regional connectivity plans even as the draft policy promises various tax sops for the sector. At the same time, Civil Aviation Ministry saw a change of ...