Jet-Etihad deal: Foreign ministry raises questions

New Delhi, July 10: After SEBI, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has sought more clarity on the Rs.2,058 crore Jet-Etihad deal about effective control and ownership of the premier Indian private carrier.

While the FIPB has sought more transparency on whether the rules concerning effective control would be followed once the deal fructifies, the Finance Ministry has also written to SEBI for a report on the Jet-Etihad deal, official sources said today.

According to these sources, the FDI holding, including the NRI investment by Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal, would be 88.57 per cent.

Once the deal involving the Abu Dhabi-based airline picking up 24 per cent stake in Jet at a price of Rs 2,058 crore is finalised, the Indian carrier would have a shareholding pattern with Goyal controlling 52 per cent, Etihad 24 per cent, Jet's parent company Tailwinds and other foreign investments holding 14 per cent, they said.

Keeping this in view, the FIPB has sought further details on the shareholder agreemnt on the post-deal status.

The FIPB has also sought clarity from Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on FDI policy in aviation and whether the 49 per cent FDI sectoral cap in civil aviation includes NRI investment.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on July 2 came out with a statement rebutting reports about objections to the deal raised by senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta, Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool Congress) and Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, each of whom had shot off separate letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Reacting to the reports, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh accused the opponents of playing politics, saying "elections are coming. Why are they opposing the Food Security Bill? They agree with it but are still opposing it. They are not willing to get the Land Acqusition Bill passed. They don't want to see any actions, which may improve the economy, the aviation sector or anything as they think it will adversely affect them in elections."

PTI