There is no proposal with the government to merge Air India and Indian Airlines into a single company, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.

“No, sir", was his reply to a question in Lok Sabha when he was asked whether the government was considering a proposal to merge the two public sector carriers.

He said the two premier carriers were operating in a highly competitive market and were constantly endeavouring to improve their services and remain competitive in the market.

The two airlines were also in the process of acquiring aircraft to revamp their fleet, Patel said.

To a question on Delhi and Mumbai airport modernisation, he said while the extent policy on foreign equity participation for new airports was permitted up to 74 per cent through the automatic route, up to 100 per cent was allowed through FIPB approval.

However, the two major metro airports were being restructured and modernised through public-private partnership with FDI capped at 49 per cent, he said.

(www.financialexpress.com)