Prithviraj Chavan demands splitting IndiGo into two cos, JPC probe

Chavan also demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe ₹56 crore given to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by IndiGo as electoral bonds ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and Adani Group’s purchase of a pilot training company connected to the IndiGo crisis

MUMBAI: Veteran Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan demanded on Monday that IndiGo Airlines be split into two companies and the market share of each be capped by around 30 percent to ensure fair competition. He underscored that the monopoly of private players in the aviation sector is dangerous and urged the government to start a national airline.

Pune, India - April 1, 2019: Prithviraj Chavan, Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra during his visit to Hindustan Times office in Pune, India, on Monday, April 1, 2019. (Photo by Pratham Gokhale/Hindustan Times) (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

Chavan also demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe ₹56 crore given to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by IndiGo as electoral bonds ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and Adani Group’s purchase of a pilot training company connected to the IndiGo crisis.

Chavan said, “The government should break IndiGo into companies to reduce its monopoly in the aviation sector.” He said that the central government has the power to do so by invoking the Competition Act 2002. “They can break a company into two by invoking section 20 of the Competition Act. We have an example of the United States (US) which did the same with the Standard Oil Company and broke it into seven companies by invoking the Sherman Antitrust Act back in 1911,” Chavan told reporters.

He said that this was the right time to invoke the act and break the airline’s monopoly to ensure competition as it controls 65 percent of India’s aviation market and Tata controls 30 percent. “This is the perfect example of crony capitalism,” he remarked.

He also alleged that the aviation ministry allowed exemptions to IndiGo for not implementing Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) for over a year until December when a crisis related to IndiGo flights occurred. “I demand JPC to probe if the ₹56 crore given by IndiGo’s owner to BJP in the form of electoral bonds, Adani purchasing Flight Simulation Technique Centre Pvt Ltd (FSTC) and IndiGo crisis are connected to each other,” he said.

He also sought to know why the airline fare cap, necessary to control the fares, was lifted by then aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on August 31, 2022. He said that if the cap was not removed the airlines would not have dared to increase ticket fares exorbitantly during the IndiGo crisis.