AirAsia has no plans at present to increase its stake in its Indian joint venture from the current 49 per cent, even if the Government hikes the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in aviation to 74 per cent, Tony Fernandes, the airline’s promoter, said here on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Fernandes said Chennai would definitely be the base for AirAsia.

“Chennai, Kochi , Bangalore… all these places are potential hubs for us. There is nothing exclusive, but Chennai is definitely where want to base ourselves,” Fernandes said, after what he called a “courtesy meeting” with Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh.

Fernandes was in the capital along with Ratan Tata, Chief Advisor to the airline’s board, and Mittu Chandilya, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia India. Ratan Tata stated that if the group had not entered aviation earlier, it was not because it had decided to stay away from it. “If we did not (enter) earlier, it was not because we chose to stay out,” he said.

Late last year, in an interview to Press Trust of India, Tata, who was then the Tata Group Chairman, had said he did not enter the airline business as he was not comfortable with the idea of bribing a Minister with Rs 15 crore, as had been suggested by an industrialist. “This is a different type of enterprise that Fernandes is bringing. Hopefully, it will spread the use of air travel in India in a new dimension. The Tata Group is pleased to be associated with it,” he said.

> ashwini.phadnis@thehindu.co.in

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