New Delhi: With Ratan Tata commenting that
he was not comfortable with the idea of bribing a minister to
enter the airline business, former civil aviation minister C M
Ibrahim on Monday asked the Tata Group chairman to name the
minister.
"He has not named (the Minister). I insist upon it and I
am writing to the Prime Minister. Let the PM conduct a CBI
enquiry into this (allegation)," Ibrahim told private news
channel from Bangalore.
Later on another channel, he said, "It is left to him
(Tata)" whether he wanted to name the Minister.
Tatas and Singapore Airlines had floated a joint venture
in a bid to take over Air India. But in 2001 during the
BJP-led NDA rule, they withdrew their joint bid for Air India,
citing political opposition to the sale.
Ibrahim said the government policy during his tenure was
that no foreign airline would be allowed to pick a stake in an
Indian airline.
"I had told Ratan Tataji that you can come on your own
but do not bring any foreign collaborator. With that policy, I
have saved thousands of crores to the country," Ibrahim
claimed.
PTI
First Published: Monday, November 15, 2010, 21:48