Group of ministers discusses draft aviation policy

A group of ministers on Thursday discussed the draft aviation policy, which is in the advanced stage of finalisation, at a meeting headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh here ahead of the presentation of the Budget later this month.

The draft aviation policy, which was rolled out last October, contains several provisions like 2 per cent levy on all air tickets to fund regional connectivity and tax sops, among others, which would have financial implications when the policy comes for implementation.

The meeting, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, was attended by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his deputy Mahesh Sharma, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Skill Development Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy besides Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey, official sources said.

“It was quite a good meeting. Most of the issues in the draft civil aviation policy were discussed during the meeting," sources privy to the meeting said without disclosing details.

Significantly, the meeting comes a day after domestic airlines body Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) sought Prime Minister's Office (PMO) intervention in incorporating some of its concerns while finalising the draft civil aviation policy.

This was the first ministerial-level consultation on the draft policy document after its rollout as so far discussions were held between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the stakeholders in the sector like airlines, airport operators, among others.