In the backdrop of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsiaplanning to set up an airline in India in partnership with Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, former chairman of the salt-to-software conglomerate met civil aviation minister Ajit Singh Friday.
Sources in the minister's office confirmed that Mr Tata made a visit at 5pm in the evening.
The visit comes in the backdrop of Singh saying that he would have preferred the Tatas to set up an airline of their own.
"I'm not opposed to the (AirAsia-Tatas) alliance... The idea of the policy was to increase investment in Indian carriers. It would have been nice had the Tatas, with their kind of resources, started a new airline," Singh had told ET in an interview last Thursday.
Singh said India needed more home-grown airlines flying to far-away destinations rather than more short-haul carriers.
The announcement on February 20 of an alliance between AirAsia, Tata Sons and the New Delhi-based Bhatia family, if approved by the government, will introduce a formidable new entrant into India's airline sector where the dominant narrative has been one of pain, exemplified by the collapse of one-time leader Kingfisher Airlines.
Sources in the minister's office confirmed that Mr Tata made a visit at 5pm in the evening.
The visit comes in the backdrop of Singh saying that he would have preferred the Tatas to set up an airline of their own.
"I'm not opposed to the (AirAsia-Tatas) alliance... The idea of the policy was to increase investment in Indian carriers. It would have been nice had the Tatas, with their kind of resources, started a new airline," Singh had told ET in an interview last Thursday.
Singh said India needed more home-grown airlines flying to far-away destinations rather than more short-haul carriers.
The announcement on February 20 of an alliance between AirAsia, Tata Sons and the New Delhi-based Bhatia family, if approved by the government, will introduce a formidable new entrant into India's airline sector where the dominant narrative has been one of pain, exemplified by the collapse of one-time leader Kingfisher Airlines.
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