Government to ‘objectively assess’ Tatas’ aviation foray

NEW DELHI: The government has assured that it will welcome and ‘objectively’ assess any forays into civil aviation by the Tatas, a day after group chairman Ratan Tata claimed that he did not venture into the sector as he had been advised by an industrialist to pay Rs 15 crore as bribe to a certain minister.

It also said that it is committed to transparency and would not hesitate to take action if anything irregular is brought to its notice.

“It is unfortunate that Mr Tata had a bad experience in the past. The ministry of civil aviation will welcome and objectively look into any foray by the Tatas into civil aviation,” civil aviation minister Praful Patel said on Tuesday.

When asked about Mr Tata’s corruption allegations, senior Congress leader and commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said his party was committed to institutional transparency and dignity. “We won’t hesitate to take the strongest action according to law if anything is brought to our attention,” he said.

“We need more transparency. I think the government is committed to that,” heavy industries and public enterprises minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told reporters, when asked about Mr Tata’s comments on Tuesday. One gets any information through RTI on anything that goes wrong, he added.

Mr Tata had said on Monday that he did not enter the airline business as he was not comfortable with the idea of giving Rs 15 crore as bribe to a minister, as suggested by an industrialist. He had, however, clarified that no minister had directly asked him for bribe. The BJP asked for clarification on Mr Tata’s comments.