HYDERABAD, Sept 10: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said he is against restrictive policies that would hamper the growth of the civil aviation industry in the country.
“Controversies are not needed (with regard to the 5/20 rule). We all should grow. New comers should grow and old timers also should grow. There has to be equal opportunities. Individually, I am against any type of restrictive activities,” Raju said when asked about the government’s stand on abolishing the ‘5/20’ Rule.
The Minister was chief guest at the inaugural function of the Indian Training Centre set up by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies corp, at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here.
However, Raju parried questions when asked whether the Centre is considering scrapping this rule.
The ‘5/20 rule, which allows only those Indian carriers to fly on international routes which have completed five years of domestic operations and have a fleet of 20 aircraft, has been slammed by experts and top executives.
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes had recently said the ‘5/20 rule’ in India would mean less economic activity as aviation has been a key growth generator for other countries like Singapore and Dubai.
Also, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), comprising IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir, had in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, opposed the current norms.
On the privatisation of four airports of Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur, Raju said they are still under consideration and the proposal was not scrapped.
“Nobody has scrapped anything. The world is open. Everybody is functioning. The Government is functioning. We want to grow economically. Where we see economic opportunity, we will grow. Our thrust will be employment opportunities for India people,” he added.
The Airports Authority of India had earlier issued Request for Qualification (RFQ) documents for undertaking the operation, management and development of the four airports through public private partnership (PPP) mode. (PTI)
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