GoM on AI India merger meets for first time

New Delhi, Nov 27 (UNI) A group of secretaries from various ministries will examine proposals submitted by Accenture-led consortium for merger of government-owned Air India (AI) and Indian.

''There are various legal issues ... like those relating to employees' integration and stamp duties,'' said civil aviation minister Praful Patel after the first meeting of group of ministers (GoM) headed by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mr Patel said there was no dissention on the issue, but many issues were raised and are yet to be addressed.

The group of secretaries headed by the cabinet secretary will submit its report within two weeks, he told reporters after the two-hour GoM meet.

Officials said the meeting also reportedly deliberated on new brand identity for the unified airline that is slated to take off on the first day of next fiscal year 2007-08.

The GoM will prepare a shortlist which will be submitted to the cabinet for final approval. It is expected to work in a time-bound manner to finalise a roadmap for the merger.

''The first meeting was to understand various proposals and debate on pros and cons of each route. Based on these recommendations, the GoM is expected to shortlist the most suitable routes for merger and forward the same to cabinet,'' said an official.

Besides Mr Patel and Mr Mukherjee, the GoM includes finance minister P Chidambaram, defence minister A K Anthony, law minister H R Bharadwaj, tourism minister Ambika Soni, personnel minister Suresh Pachauri, company affairs minister Prem Chand Gupta, heavy industries minister Santosh Mohan Deb and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The consultant has penned five different wedding plans for the two airlines, with the foremost suggestion being creation of a new firm and merging both AI and Indian into this company.

The other suggestions include creation of a holding firm and keeping both the airlines as independent entities, merger of AI into Indian, merger of Indian into Air India, and maintaining a status quo on the matter.

UNI SU MIR HT2230