Aviation FDI: Govt open to tweaking?

"What is there to tweak, we have allowed 49 per cent. Let us see whether there are potential investors. These are executive decisions, they can always be tweaked," he said.

"See, merely because you raise it (the 49 per cent limit) to 51 per cent does not mean somebody is going to come. There may be a willing buyer, there has to be a willing seller also. The Indian company must be willing to yield control. And (there is) no evidence of that. There are only half a dozen players in the sector," Chidambaram said.

He was asked whether there was a possibility of tweaking the FDI norms for the aviation sector due to the lack of response so far.

Under the changes brought about by the government in the FDI norms in September, foreign carriers were allowed to pick up stake of up to 49 per cent of paid-up capital in domestic airlines.

Earlier, FDI of up to 49 per cent was allowed in Indian carriers but foreign airlines were barred from investing in air transport services.

Apart from the airlines, 49 per cent FDI was allowed in cargo handling, 75 per cent in business aviation and 100 per cent in greenfield airports, seaplanes and other areas.

In spite of this policy, the total FDI inflow into the air transport sector between January

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