Criticising the Union government’s decision to sell Indian carrier Air India citing huge losses, former Civil Aviation Minister C.M. Ibrahim said that the irrational policies of the BJP government have led to this situation.
Speaking to The Hindu, he claimed that when he was Civil Aviation Minister, the national carrier was under profit. “Then, Air India had recorded profit of ₹50 crore as it was doing well. Today, because of the irrelevant and failed policies of the BJP government, the national carrier is incurring heavy losses,” he said.
Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could confirm the same from Delhi’s Lt. Governor Anil Baijal, a former IAS officer who was Managing Director of Air India, he said Mr. Baijal was doing great job. “Mr. Modi can still take advise from Mr. Baijal on reviving AI to ensure it profits once again. If the government has any intention to revive the national carrier, it can still do so with the opinion of experts,” Mr. Ibrahim said.
He also claimed that because of the visionary policies of his Ministry, India had several private airlines working today. “Today we have several private airlines operating in India. This is the result of the policies and decisions we made in the past,” he said.
“Every country in the world has its own national carrier. Despite this, the BJP has decided to sell off its own national carrier. This is extremely disappointing,” he said.
Congratulating BJP MP Subramanian Swamy for reportedly opposing the decision of the government, Mr. Ibrahim said the latter had done the right thing.
