Friday, August 26 2005 11:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Indian Airlines' (IA) fleet acquisition will be delayed by at least three weeks as the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) referred the matter to an Empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) for a final round of price negotiations with Airbus Industries to seek a better bargain.

"The CCEA yesterday (August 25, 2005) decided to constitute a E-GoM to hold one final round of negotiation for acquiring 43 aircraft from Airbus by IA on a time bound basis and take a final decision," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said after the CCEA meeting.

Asked about the time frame for the negotiations, he said, "The shortest time could be three weeks."

The fleet acquisition plan was being looked into by a negotiation committee and an oversight panel.

Blaming the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government for delaying IA's fleet acquisition, he said, "Till we assumed power, nothing had happened. We are in the last mile."

"Still, there are 1-2 grey areas which require to be addressed," Chidambaram said, adding, "E-GoM would expedite the process."