What was the Tatas hidden agenda?
I feel one of the single most important hidden motives of the Tata-Singapore Airlines project was to kill the domestic Indian Airlines. Singapore Airlines has huge resources, financial clout and aggressive marketing skills. But Indian Airlines, which has limited resources and which is forced to operate on many uneconomical routes across the country, would not be able to offer effective competition at this juncture. That is why we worked out a comprehensive aviation policy. Which means you did not want to throw open the country’s domestic airlines to competition. I did not want to pit Indian Airlines against competition from foreign airline companies. There are many private Indian companies operating in the Indian skies successfully. The Tatas were similarly free to start their own airline instead of going in for a suspicious tie-up with Singapore Airlines. I would have immediately allowed the Tatas’ entry into the aviation industry, if it had not come up with its equity participation w
