Feb. 19 - The Indian government approved an equity infusion of US$177million in two equal monthly installments to the National Aviation Company of India Ltd, the holding company for Air India.
NACIL is currently facing severe financial losses. Costly legacy assets, a weakening revenue stream and high cost structure are resulting in rising liabilities. The equity infusion will help the troubled carrier over its cash flow problem and finance fleet acquisition plans. A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod to the fresh equity infusion. Read the rest of this entry »
Nov. 13 - India’s Foreign Ministry has announced that stapled Chinese visas for Indian travelers will not be allowed to exit the country and advises applicants to verify how their visas will be attached.
Some Chinese embassies and consulates have continued to issue stapled visas for Indians coming from Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir despite Indian government protests. The practice is China’s way of not recognizing the territories as a part of India.
“It has come to the attention of government of India that the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in New Delhi and the Chinese consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata are issuing visas on a separate piece of paper ’stapled’ to the passport (rather than pasted as is the usual practice), to certain categories of Indian nationals on the basis of their domicile, ethnicity and/or place of issue of the passport. Such paper visas stapled to the passport are not considered valid for travel out of the country,” said the ministry advisory. Read the rest of this entry »
Nov. 12- India’s Ministry of Defense has changed rules that could allow foreign arms companies blacklisted pending a bribery case to join tests aimed at modernizing the army.
The ministry banned local and foreign firms in June based on a suspected bribery charge on the former chief of the Ordinance Factories’ Board, Sudipta Ghosh. The new rules could pave the way for blacklisted arms companies to showcase their equipment although they will not be allowed to finalize contracts pending the investigation says The Telegraph.
The Indian Armed Forces is the third largest in the world in terms of size with an active force of 1,414,000 people but severely lacks in modern equipment. The Indian Army for one has not bought heavy artillery in 22 years. Past attempts to equip the military have been delayed so far. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct. 16 - In another sign of India’s emerging from the global downturn, and a signal of a now booming Indian economy, domestic air travel in the country grew by 30.8 percent in September over the same figures last year.
Over 3.5million fliers took to the skies last month, itself the fourth consecutive month that air traffic volume has increased.
The economic recovery and a new flush of liquidity had paved the way for many fliers to return to the skies, a report in DNA newspaper said. Air India, Jet Airways, Jetlite, SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir and Kingfisher Airlines all reported increased volumes of traffic.
Oct. 1 - Kingfisher Airlines, rapidly challenging Air India’s dominance in the aviation industry, has announced it will be adding new international routes from next year to its existing roster to Dubai, Hong Kong, Thailand, London and Singapore.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the company’s 14th annual general meeting, Vijay Mallya, chairman and CEO of the company, said that the company was “looking at new routes only from next year,” but that the company needed to be cautious. “In the domestic market, Kingfisher intends to launch services to Ludhiana (Punjab) and Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) which till date had no proper air connectivity,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Sept. 29 - State-owned Air India may consider suspending airline operations for 15 days after protests over pay issues reached a standstill.
The Economic Times reported that about 40 Air India flights were canceled on Saturday when scores of executive pilots reported sick in protest of the airline’s decision to cut performance incentives by 50 percent for those receiving incentives of Rs 200,000 or more a month.
For pilots receiving bonuses of up to Rs 10,000 a month, incentives will be cut by 25 percent as part of the airlines measures to drastically lower costs and apply for a government bailout. Read the rest of this entry »
Sept. 15 - Over 3.6 million passengers took to the skies across India last month in a 26 percent increase from the same period last year.
According to the Times of India, this is the first time in 12 months that double digit growth has been recorded as all preceding months had seen decreases in domestic flyers. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 26 - A proposal made by the civil aviation ministry that would have allowed foreign carriers to buy a 25 percent stake in India’s local carriers have been put on hold due to security concerns.
The proposal was made to give local carriers access to foreign funding after severe losses in the industry. Currently, foreign carriers are not allowed to directly or indirectly hold equity in local airlines although other foreign investors are allowed to own up to 49 percent in Indian carriers.
Moreover, foreign direct investment from helicopter operators and ground-handling companies in local companies are allowed. “Because of the turmoil in the aviation sector, an early decision on allowing foreign carriers to invest in domestic airlines is not expected. There are various pros and cons of the decision and they have to be taken into account before taking a call,” a senior civil aviation ministry official told The Economic Times.
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Aug. 5 - The Civil Aviation Ministry of India plans to convert the Airport Authority of Indian (AAI) into a public company as a way of raising funds.
The ministry will amend the laws contained in Airport Authority of India Act, the principal act governing various airports in India. By converting the AAI into a public company, funding will become easier and the AAI will be able to raise money from the primary and subsequently from secondary market. The amendment is expected to be placed before the parliament by 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
May 26 - India’s civil aviation ministry is revisiting proposals to permit foreign airlines to invest directly in its own carriers.
Currently, foreign investment of up to 49 percent is permitted in the sector, however this is only open to non-aviation companies. With India’s three major carriers – Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher – expected to post cumulative losses of about US$1.6billion this year, the proposal to relax FDI restrictions and open the market directly to foreign airlines is seen as one way to get in much needed investment and improvements to the carriers bottom lines. Read the rest of this entry »
