ET BureauET Magazine contacted former aviation minister Praful Patel to respond to the issues raised in Bhargava’s article. He refused to respond to the article per se but defended the aircraft acquisition and the processes followed by the aviation ministry while pushing the deal. Excerpts:
There was no wrongdoing. It was a collective decision of the government.
I accept that we overestimated the capability of Air India to carry out the aircraft acquisition plan.
Read what Jitender Bhargava has to say
The government provided sovereign guarantee for the acquisition.
The EGoM cleared the acquisition, which was finalized by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
All processes, including informing the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Chief Vigilance Commissioner with the entire set of documents, were adhered to while clearing the acquisition.
In 2012, when I ceased to be aviation minister, the government did not revoke the deal. It actually decided to purchase 20 of the 27 Dreamliners from Boeing. It could have cancelled the order because of the delays in delivery of the planes. Air India need not have paid fines for pulling out of the deal; rather, the airline could have imposed fines on Boeing for the delays.
Air India’s old planes have been phased out while new ones have joined the fleet. Now, nearly 10 years after the order, 15 of the total 68 planes ordered have still not joined the fleet. So, the net addition of planes remains zero. In other words, the Air India fleet size today remains the same as it was in 2005.
I haven’t stopped anyone from probing the deal. Let anyone bring out the facts or proof that the acquisition was mala fide.
There was no wrongdoing. It was a collective decision of the government.
I accept that we overestimated the capability of Air India to carry out the aircraft acquisition plan.
Read what Jitender Bhargava has to say
The government provided sovereign guarantee for the acquisition.
The EGoM cleared the acquisition, which was finalized by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
All processes, including informing the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Chief Vigilance Commissioner with the entire set of documents, were adhered to while clearing the acquisition.
In 2012, when I ceased to be aviation minister, the government did not revoke the deal. It actually decided to purchase 20 of the 27 Dreamliners from Boeing. It could have cancelled the order because of the delays in delivery of the planes. Air India need not have paid fines for pulling out of the deal; rather, the airline could have imposed fines on Boeing for the delays.
Air India’s old planes have been phased out while new ones have joined the fleet. Now, nearly 10 years after the order, 15 of the total 68 planes ordered have still not joined the fleet. So, the net addition of planes remains zero. In other words, the Air India fleet size today remains the same as it was in 2005.
I haven’t stopped anyone from probing the deal. Let anyone bring out the facts or proof that the acquisition was mala fide.
Get Unlimited Access to The Economic Times
