According to an official spokesperson, the project to manufacture the first indigenous civilian aircraft would involve Rs 131.38 crore.

NAL has been working on this project for several years and already invested around Rs 14.5 crore for the research and design of the 14-seater aircraft. The aircraft can also be pressed into service in inaccessible terrain of North East region, the spokesperson added.

Different government institutions would be funding the project including the budgetary support of Rs 42.58 crore by the ministry of civil aviation and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The Technological Development Board (TDB) has agreed to provide a loan of Rs 65.3 crore while the Hindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL) will invest Rs 9 crore.

The aircraft will have various features including all weather, day and night flying capability and operability from semi-prepared runways. The aircraft can also be used for societal services like aerial ambulance, disaster relief and security operations such as surveillance and coast guard etc, the spokesperson said.

As part of the financial restructuring of the Singareni Colliries, the CCEA extended the moratorium on payment of the outstanding interest of Rs 663.34 crore as on March 31, 1997 accruing on the government loans to the SCCL during the Eighth Plan up to march 31, 2007.

The SCCL was allowed to start payment of Rs 663.34 crore in the annual and equal installments starting from the financial year 2007-08.

These measures, the spokesperson said, would provide the company with long term financial stability resulting in better net worth of the company and leading to higher investment and increased production.

Nearly ten per cent of the country's total coalis being produced by the SCCL. It produced around 27.33 million tonnes during 1998-99 and 76 per cent of the coal is dispatched to coal-based thermal power plants in Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Another 10 per cent is supplied to the cement plants and other industries.