Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has said that all issues concerning AirAsia IndiaÂ’s application had been resolved. The Minister added that the proposal of AirAsia India has been sent to the Union Home Ministry for security clearance. Once the Home Ministry nod comes, the Civil Aviation Ministry will give its clearance to the Malaysia-based low cost carrier, the Minister said in London on June 10.
Last February, AirAsia Berhad had announced a 49:30:21 joint venture with India’s Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace to launch the airline in the country, headquartered in Chennai. The government had in early April cleared AirAsiaÂ’s proposal to invest Rs 80.98 crore in AirAsia India, marking the clearance of the projectÂ’s first step before seeking a licence to fly.
After this, the company on April 23, 2013 submitted an application to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to launch flight operations in the country. It planned to launch operations with a few aircraft and proposes to bring in 37 planes in five years. It also submitted the names of the directors on its board and the CEO, management consultant Mittu Chandilya.
Security clearance for all these persons has to be granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs now. The joint venture company is likely to have at least six members on its board, comprising two nominees each from AirAsia and Tata Sons and one representative from Telestra Tradeplace. There would be an independent director on the board who would also be the non-executive chairman. Tata Sons has nominated R Venkatraman, former executive assistant to Ratan Tata, and Bharat Vasani, the chief legal counsel of the Tata group, on the Board.
AirAsia would be represented by Tony Fernandes, CEO, AirAsia Berhad and Kamarudin Bin Meranun, who are among the largest shareholders in AirAsia Berhad, while Arun Bhatia would represent Telstra Tradeplace on the Board of the newly formed venture.
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