The issue of procuring the Turboprop planes for operations in the loss making north-east routes is to come up before the Public Investment Board on Wednesday.

The sources said the IA has arrived at the Rs 1000 crore figure after having projected revenue as remaining constant for the next 20 years while costs is projected to escalate at between eight to ten per cent per year over the next two decades.

``Under such skewed costing practices, it is needless to explain why the ATR 42 programme will show such high losses. So will any aircraft type for that matter. What it means in simple terms is that if you charge Rs 100 today on an airfare, it will remain Rs 100 in 20 years. Even the cost of potatoes goes up annually'', the sources said.