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Tag: Union Minister Dr Mahesh Sharma

Dr Mahesh Sharma Celebrates World Tourism Day In a Noble Way :Tour for Divyangs

[New Delhi]Dr Mahesh Sharma Celebrates World Tourism Day In a Noble Way :Tour for Divyangs
Dr Mahesh Sharma Flag off Sightseeing Tour for Divyang Children on World Tourism Day
Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture flagged off a Sightseeing Tour of the Monuments and Heritage places of Delhi for Divyang children on the occasion of World Tourism day 2016 here today.
This unique and noble way of celebration was organised by the Ministry of Tourism. 35 Divyang students from Class 2nd to 6th of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya School for Divyang Children, Minto Road, New Delhi participated in this Sightseeing Tour of many Monuments and Heritage places of Delhi.
of Delhi’s Monuments and Heritage
Photo Caption
The Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Dr. Mahesh Sharma interacting with the Divyang children, at the flagging off ceremony of the “Special Sightseeing Tour of the Monuments and Museum in Delhi arranged for Divyang Children”, organised by India Tourism, in New Delhi on September 27, 2016.

Govt Mulling To Regulate Air Fares In Jat Stir Like Crisis

‘[New Delhi]Govt Mulling To Regulate Air Fares In Jat Stir Like Crisis
Govt Now Can Request Airlines to Lower Fares in Such Crisis
Asserting that globally air fares are “unregulated,” Union minister Dr Mahesh Sharma today said the government can only request airlines to keep their ticket prices low during an extraordinary situation such as the ongoing Jat quota stir in Haryana.
The Minister of State for Civil Aviation also said the government has immediately stepped in and instructed airlines to mount additional capacity as a measure to keep air fares under control in view of the agitation.
He was responding to a question on reports that some airlines were “overcharging” and that some travel portals were exhibiting fares as high as Rs 89,000 for a flight to Delhi from Chandigarh.
“It was brought to my notice that tickets are being sold at high prices.
The ministry immediately contacted all airlines including national carrier Air India and requested them to increase the number of flights (to keep the fares under control,”
Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of a tourism event here.
Domestic carriers including Air India operated additional flights to Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jaipur to enable people reach their destinations, who were stuck due to the rail and road transport services coming to halt due to agitation.
Sharma said the carriers responded “positively” to the Civil Aviation Ministry’s request for additional flights with Air India even keeping its ticket prices below Rs 4,000.
On the fares issue, he, however said,
“Since globally air fares are not regulated, we can only request and suggest (domestic)
airlines to keep fares low in a situation like this (agitation).
Govthas many time Walked Away From the Responsibility Of Air Fare Fixation
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma him self in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha Showed This Inability
Minister Informed The Parliament That Air fares are not fixed by the Government as they are determined by the airline based on interplay of market forces.

MIAL Desires To Levy&Collect Development Fee at Mumbai Airport@Rs 518Cr

[New Delhi]MIAL Desires To Levy&Collect Development Fee at Mumbai Airport@Rs 518Cr
Mumbai International Airport Private Limited has approached tariff regulator Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India to allow levy and collection of development fee at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport to the tune of Rs 518 crores, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) is a joint venture company, which runs the CSI airport.
MIAL has collected Rs 252 crores during finacial year 2012-13, Rs 328 crores during financial year 14 and Rs 409 crores during the previos fiscal as development fee (DF), Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said in Lok Sabha.
“MIAL has sought levy and collection of additional DF for its contribution of Rs 518 crores towards construction of two metro stations at CSIA, Mumbai,” he said in reply to a question.
Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) has issued a Consultation Paper on November 4 seeking stakeholders’ comments on its proposal to allow levy of Rs 15 per embarking domestic passenger and Rs 75 per embarking international passenger towards Metro connectivity to the airport, he said.

Center Washes Hands From Thefts Of Flyer’s Baggage at Airports,Calling It State Subject

[New Delhi]Center Washes Hands From Thefts Of Flyer’s Baggage at Airports
158 Cases of Stealing of Valuable from Flyer’s Baggage At IGI Airport .Govt Call It a Law & Order Problem So a State Subject
Govt Could Not Provide Air Line Vise Data Of Thefts In Lok Sabha
158 cases of stealing of valuable from passenger’s baggage have been reported at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), the highest among 20 domestic airports, since 2012,
Lok Sabha was informed today.
Over all, the 20 domestic airports together have reported or registered 345 cases of thefts and stealing of valuable from the baggage of air passenger from January 2012 to October this year, according to the data provided by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mahesh Sharma in the Lower House of Parliament.
In 2012, IGIA had reported
24 cases of theft, while it was
14 in 2013,
67 in 2014 and
53 till October this year.
IGIA reported or registered the highest number of theft cases between January 2012 and October 2015, followed by Mumbai airport with 78, Kolkata 34 and Hyderabad with 20 cases.
While Delhi and Mumbai airports are run by private groups GMR and GVK, Kolkata and Chennai airports are under state-run Airports Authority of India.
Cochin airports had 11 theft cases reported during this period, while 10 cases each were reported at Chennai and Jaipur airports, five at Trivandrum, four at Bangalore, two each at Calicut, Raipur, Agartala and Lucknow airports, and one each at Madurai, Bagdogra, Indore, Bhuj, Imphal, Amritsar and Udaipur airports.Cases pertaining to the theft of baggage at airports are reported by complainants to local police or brought to the notice of the airlines concerned,
The Minister said that the incident of theft are a law and order issue, which are state subjects, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation had no control or mandate over this data or information.
The local police, who are under the jurisdiction of the concerned state government, register and investigate such cases, he said.

National Carrier AI Raises 300 Million $ Loan For Air Crafts Spare Payments

[NewDelhi] National Carrier AI Raises 300 Million USD Loan For Working Capital Requirements
Air India has concluded agreement with Citi Bank/ State Bank of India for loan of USD 300 million External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) to meet its working capital requirements, especially towards aircraft spare payments.
The said amount is being drawn in installments.
The ECB loan has an average maturity of 3 years and is repayable over five years in installments.
This information was given by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

Mizoram Demands Out Standing Funds And Central Assistance for Development of Tourism

[New Delhi]Mizoram Demands Out Standing Funds And Central Assistance for Development of Tourism
The Tourism Minister of Mizoram John Rotluangliana met the Union Tourism Minister Dr Mahesh Sharma to seek central assistance for development of tourism in the state of Mizoram.
Central Minister informed that Mizoram is included in the mega project of the North East Circuit under the scheme of Swadesh Darshan.
Mizoram has submitted proposals for two tourism projects iei) integrated development of Eco Tourism, Adventure Sports and Wellness at Serlui B Lake surroundings and ii) integrated development of Eco Tourism at Thanzawal under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of Ministry of Tourism..
Shri John Rotluangliana requested Dr Mahesh Sharma to release some outstanding funds for the projects started under the scheme of PIDDC. Dr. Mahesh Sharma assured that the demands of the state government will be examined and all possible assistance will be extended to help the state of Mizoram for development of tourism.
Photo Caption
The Tourism Minister of Mizoram, Shri John Rotluangliana and Prof. K.V. Thomas, MP meeting with the Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, in New Delhi on August 28, 2015.

Govt Scraps The Proposal Of Privatization Of Four Developed Airports

[New Delhi]Govt Scraps The Proposal Of Privatization Of Four Developed Airports
Reversing its earlier plan, the government has decided to scrap the proposal to privatise [1]Chennai[2]Kolkata[3]Jaipur [4]Ahmedabad airports.
Now, private players would be roped in only for operation and maintenance activities of Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports.
A decision in this regard was taken last month during a high-level meeting that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his deputy Mahesh Sharma, among others.
The earlier proposal was for undertaking the operation, management and development of these airports through public private partnership (PPP) mode.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) also issued Request for Qualification (RfQ) documents in December last year.
Minister Sharma today said the government has now decided to take up Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports on pilot basis.
“The four airports, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata, were under consideration. On a pilot basis, the two airports, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, will be taken on O&M basis.
Issues of Chennai and Kolkata have been deferred,” Sharma told reporters here.
The modus operandi for roping in private players to carry out O&M works at Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports is going to be discussed with stakeholders, he added.
When asked whether similar mechanism would be adopted for other airports, the Minister said, “Let’s see the results (for Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports) and if they are good we will extend it to others”.
Without disclosing specific details, Sharma said representations were received with regard to Chennai and Kolkata airports.
Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said that Airports Authority of India (AAI) has invested significant funds in these four airports.
Instead of privatisation, AAI would continue to be the owner of these airports. “At the same time, for better operations and maintenance, the private sector expertise will be tapped,” he said.
Interestingly, the Civil Aviation Ministry has been maintaining that there is no proposal to privatise these four airports.
“There is no such proposal of privatisation of airports at present,” Sharma had told Rajya Sabha earlier this year.
This was his response to a query on whether the government was considering a proposal to privatise Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports.
There are 476 airports, operational as well as non-operational ones, in the country.

Its Not Black Money Dumped In Foreign Banks,Its White Rs 2,739 cr,AirLines Not Paying

[New Delhi]It Is Not Black Money Dumped In Foreign Banks But It Is White Rs 2,739 cr Which Air Lines Are Not Paying
Domestic and foreign carriers owed airport usage fee dues worth Rs 2,739 crore to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at the end of March 2015, the government said today.
Out of the total, national carrier Air India and its subsidiaries owed the maximum of Rs 1,963 crore. Other carriers include SpiceJet+ Jet Airways+Jet Lite (India)+ IndiGo+ Go Air.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said AAI has taken various measures to recover the dues such as charging interest on outstanding dues of delayed bills.
Various airlines were to pay airport usage fee worth Rs 2,738.87 crore to AAI at the end of March 2015, with “national carriers” owing Rs 1,962.92 crore, according to Sharma.
At that time,
foreign airlines owed Rs 388.93 crore while the domestic private carriers, including
SpiceJet and Jet Airways, had to pay Rs 387.02 crore.
However, the Minister did not disclose the names of the foreign airlines.
Besides, airlines that had to clear the dues at that time included
Go Air (Rs 32 crore),
Indigo Airlines (Rs 19.81 crore)
Air Asia (Rs 1.29 crore). Without taking names, Sharma said other private airlines owed Rs 96.85 crore to AAI.