Mumbai, Sept 1: The sudden decision by the Tata Industries to withdraw its proposal for a domestic airline is being seen with caution by the Indian Airlines employee union. Speaking to The Financial Express, BY Kadam, regional secretary, ACEU said the Tatas might have withdrawn the proposal in order to submit a fresh one." He added that the Union will appeal to the government not to consider any fresh proposal by the company. The union's contention is that there is already a 45 per cent over capacity in the domestic sector and both, IA and Jet Airways are toting up operational costs by burning expensive fuel without any returns.The unions had earlier staged dharnas and protest meetings against the Tata project stating that it was not really conforming to government guidelines. They stated that the revised proposal of Tatas had Singapore Investment Corporation as a consortium partner and this company is owned by Singapore Airlines.
Meanwhile, a senior level Tata confidante said the Tatas had noplans to submit a fresh proposal. He added that the government had dealt with the entire process in a humiliating manner and it was, therefore, Tata's decision to get out of the project rather than keep tinkering with it to suit the government's whims.
Senior officials at IA, however, dismissed this argument and said the Tatas had historical experience in government lobbying and if they were serious about the entire project, they could have got it cleared. As for the impact on IA's future with the withdrawal, he said it was business as usual for IA as Tatas were nothing more than a media-perceived competition. With the withdrawal of the airline project, the Tatas have effectively put to rest their ambitious plans in the aviation sector. However, what happens to the consortium between them, Raytheon and Singapore Investment Corporation still remains to be seen.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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