According to the CAG, Air India said the amount spent on

maintenance cost of old aircraft would be more or less equal to the amount the airline would have contributed towards maintenance reserve of new aircraft.

"Air India did not incur any additional cost except on schedule interruptions. Besides, due to company's financial situation, induction of these aircraft on lease was postponed," it said.

The Civil Aviation Ministry, in its reply, said the leasing activities could not be completed due to "weak financial position of the company, high cost of operations in view of the steep increase in fuel prices leading to a number of domestic routes also not meeting the operating costs, among others."

The reply was not tenable as "despite approval of the Board for leasing ten aircraft in September 2010, the tender was issued only in August 2013, after 34 months. Such a long delay points to inefficiency of the procurement process given the urgency of the requirement," the CAG said.

The CAG report also said the contention that maintenance cost of old aircraft would be equal to contribution required for maintenance reserve for new aircraft was not tenable as the management had informed the board of the high maintenance costs of the old aircraft emphasising the need to replace these uneconomical old classic aircraft urgently.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)