New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh met UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi over the controversy of the deal in between Jet Airways and Etihad of Rs. 2.058 crore on Thursday.
Ajit Singh had strongly defended the deal, saying those opposing it were “long on politics and short on facts, It is such an important deal, the first big deal in Civil Aviation Ministry. In terms of FDI, it is bigger than any other deal this year.”
Objections were being raised by senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta, Dinesh Trivedi of Trinamool Congress and Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy over the deal.
All these leaders have shot off separate letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) came out with a statement rebutting reports that there were differences within the government over the deal.
However, the sources said the meeting was of political nature as Gandhi is UPA Chairperson and Singh’s RLD is part of the ruling coalition. The issue of Jet-Etihad deal is understood to have come up during the meeting.
The Government said the equity stake sale matter was still under examination. It asserted that there were no differences between Ministries over the air services agreement between India and Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways had on April 24 announced its decision to purchase 24 per cent stake in Jet for Rs 2,058 crore.
On June 13, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) deferred a decision on the deal, saying it required more clarity on control and ownership structure of Jet Airways. Jet chairman Naresh Goyal owns a 51 per cent stake in the airline.
Bureau Report
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