It is not every day that Ratan Tata engages in a verbal duel with his rivals. The last time he had differences with his peers was in 2002 when the GSM lobby of telecom operators went up in arms against the government's decision to allow fixed-line operators to offer mobile services - his stand was that nobody should build a case against a technology (CDMA in this case), provided there was a level playing field for all.
So it came as a surprise when Tata, the 78-year-old chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, vented his ire on Twitter last month. "The lobbying for discriminating policies between old and new airlines is reminiscent of the protectionist and monopolistic pressures by vested interests' entities who seem to fear competition, as in a variety of other sectors over the years," his post of February 20 said.
"These protectionist moves have held back progress in India, compared to open economies that have thrived on competition overseas."
Tata is not a frequent tweeter: since joining the micro-blogging site in April 2011, he has let out all of 117 tweets. This one was therefore bound to draw notice - from friends and foes alike.
The reason for his ire is the much debated 5/20 rule in civil aviation: it forbids new airlines to fly overseas unless they have completed five years on domestic routes and have a fleet size of 20 aircraft. A new airline has to therefore wait for at least five years before it can fly on lucrative overseas sectors.
Vijay Mallya, the beleaguered promoter of Kingfisher Airlines, acquired Air Deccan from Captain GR Gopinath, an older airline, in order to speed up his overseas sojourn. The results were disastrous: the purchase of the low-cost airline was one of the reasons for the downfall of Kingfisher Airlines.
Many commentators and experts have called the rule archaic and asked the government to repeal it. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has spoken out against the policy and has questioned its rationale. Earlier this month, minister of state for civil aviation, Mahesh Sharma, said the government is considering a partial abolition of the rule. The government expects to finalise the civil aviation policy by month end.
The rule had come into effect to protect Air India, but it has ended up benefiting older private airlines, which all fly overseas and do not want the rule to be relaxed. Their logic is that the rules of the game cannot be changed midway.
This is what seems to have drawn Tata into the debate. Raju and his ministry need to be applauded for "considering the removal of the controversial 5/20 rule," he said in his tweet, and added that the liberal policy was in line with the "visionary policies promised by" Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
To Read the News in Full 15/03/16 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard
So it came as a surprise when Tata, the 78-year-old chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, vented his ire on Twitter last month. "The lobbying for discriminating policies between old and new airlines is reminiscent of the protectionist and monopolistic pressures by vested interests' entities who seem to fear competition, as in a variety of other sectors over the years," his post of February 20 said.
"These protectionist moves have held back progress in India, compared to open economies that have thrived on competition overseas."
Tata is not a frequent tweeter: since joining the micro-blogging site in April 2011, he has let out all of 117 tweets. This one was therefore bound to draw notice - from friends and foes alike.
The reason for his ire is the much debated 5/20 rule in civil aviation: it forbids new airlines to fly overseas unless they have completed five years on domestic routes and have a fleet size of 20 aircraft. A new airline has to therefore wait for at least five years before it can fly on lucrative overseas sectors.
Vijay Mallya, the beleaguered promoter of Kingfisher Airlines, acquired Air Deccan from Captain GR Gopinath, an older airline, in order to speed up his overseas sojourn. The results were disastrous: the purchase of the low-cost airline was one of the reasons for the downfall of Kingfisher Airlines.
Many commentators and experts have called the rule archaic and asked the government to repeal it. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has spoken out against the policy and has questioned its rationale. Earlier this month, minister of state for civil aviation, Mahesh Sharma, said the government is considering a partial abolition of the rule. The government expects to finalise the civil aviation policy by month end.
The rule had come into effect to protect Air India, but it has ended up benefiting older private airlines, which all fly overseas and do not want the rule to be relaxed. Their logic is that the rules of the game cannot be changed midway.
This is what seems to have drawn Tata into the debate. Raju and his ministry need to be applauded for "considering the removal of the controversial 5/20 rule," he said in his tweet, and added that the liberal policy was in line with the "visionary policies promised by" Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
To Read the News in Full 15/03/16 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard
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