The new panel will be set up by March and the Government would soon issue anordinance regarding the `TRAI amendment 2000', information technologyminister Pramod Mahajan said.

The cabinet decision comes in the wake of month-long wranglings between TRAIand the telecom department with the former seeking adjudicatory powers tosettle disputes between licencer and licencees.

The government decision is a sequel to a recommendation made by ahigh-powered committee on information technology headed by finance ministerYashwant Sinha which had suggested ways to strengthen the TRAI.

The committee had also appointed a special committee headed by minister ofstate for information and broadcasting Arun Jaitley on December 23 and therecommendations of its report submitted on January 13 were considered.

Explaining the salient features of the ordinance, Mahajan said therecommendations of the TRAI in respect of licences would be mandatory to theGovernment also.

The TRAI recommendations can cover additional issues, he said, adding theycan fix terms and conditions of inter-connectivity between service providersin which the private sector has come in large numbers.

The recommendations of the Trai will be mandatory.

Meanwhile, the Centre also decided to provide aviation turbine fuel (ATF)for smaller turbo-prop aircraft at international prices, reducing its priceby almost half and charge sales tax for ATF at 4 per cent or even less.

The decision will enable airlines operating such aircraft in remote areaslike North-Eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir and Andaman and Nicobar andLakshadweep islands become economically viable, Pramod Mahajan toldreporters.

The union cabinet also decided to refer the issue of converting sevendomestic airports to international airports to the infrastructure task forceheaded by Planning Commission deputy chairman KC Pant.

The airports to be converted are Bangalore, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Goa,Ahmedabad, Amritsar and Kochi (Nedumbassery), civil aviation secretaryRavindra gupta told reporters.

Mahajan said the ATF at reduced prices would be available for all turbo-propaircraft operating across the country.

Asked if Indian Airlines had decided to go in for smaller turbo-propaircraft like French-Italian ATR recently purchased by Jet Airways, he said,"This may tempt Indian airlines to go in for turbo-props like ATRs."

He said the petroleum ministry would issue instructions to provide ATF atinternational prices as available to the international airlines and reducesales tax from the present high of 34 per cent to 4 per cent or less bydeclaring ATF as "goods" under the central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

Mahajan said high cost of ATF due to cross-subsidy for LPG and kerosene hadmade several private airliners unviable as 40 per cent of an airlineexpenditure involved fuel and the measure could encourage smaller airlinesand even state governments to start new services and provide air link toremote and short distance areas.

Till now, due to government rules airlines operating turbo-prop planes toremote areas had been running in losses in these routes and could notwithdraw their services, he said.

The question of operating bigger aircraft like boeing didnot arise as theywould run half empty in such routes, he said.

These decisions were based on an April 1999 report of a task force headed bythe civil aviation secretary which was set up in December 1998.