"What is the point in setting up a committee to examine objections raised by third parties? It is the civil aviation ministry which has to decide whether the Tata proposal falls within the guidelines or not," said a senior-level source in the group.

The decision to set up an expert committee is being interpreted in industry circles as another tactic by the civil aviation ministry to delay the clearance of the country's largest private sector airline proposal.

Though the civil aviation ministry has sought six weeks' time from the FIPB, the committee may, in all likelihood, take months to arrive at a decision.

Such doubts seem credible due to the track record of the civil aviation ministry. While the ministry announced its intention to set up a panel for working out the details of the Tata-Raytheon airport project, no such committee has been set up to date, industry sources pointed out.

The Tata Airline project has become a hot bed of controversy with political interests allegedly close to Jet Airways lobbying against the airline. On its part, the state-run Indian Airlines has also made a strong pitch against the proposed airline project.

In the past few weeks, the government has come under immense pressure from various quarters which have tried to stop the airline project from getting a clearance.

Central trade unions, the employees' union of Indian Airlines and groups of members of parliament have sent letters to prime minister AB Vajpayee and home minister LK Advani, picking holes in the Tata Airline project.

Opponents of the airline have targeted Tata Airline's technical agreement with Singapore Airlines and the 40 per cent foreign equity ownership in the airline which will be picked up by FIIs.

The Tata group has sent detailed replies to all the missives directed against the airline, offering clarifications on the project. In fact, some senior civil aviation ministry officials have admitted in private that the Tata Airline project conforms to the aviation policy guidelines but has not been able to take off due to "extraneous" reasons.

The aviation policy permits a technical agreement with foreign airlines provided the scope of the agreement is defined in advance.