COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Tata airline not a closed chapter, says Vajpayee

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

For the first time after the withdrawal of the Tata airline project, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has aired his views on the issue.

Vajpayee's attention was drawn to the issue while he was speaking to mediapersons at the end of his tour of flood-hit Uttar Pradesh. He remarked: ''From our side the project is still not a closed chapter and I have appointed a high-level committee of experts to make an overall assessment of the situation.''

He, however, hastened to add, ''Of course, a delegation of MPs and that of employees of Indian Airlines met me recently with the plea that 'What was the need for a new airline when Indian Airlines was not drawing sufficient passengers?' ''

Expressing concern over the arbitrary and sudden winding up of many non-banking finance companies after pocketing away millions of rupees of ordinary investors, the prime minister said, ''A new legislation may be brought in to bring an end to this malpractice and swindling.'' He said that talks were on with the Reserve Bank of India to initiate adequate measures in this regard.