On Tuesday, a senior official has stated that the civil aviation
ministry and the union finance ministry will raise the topic of the
proposed increase in service tax on air travel.

In a recent
industry event, the Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi has said that
they have received a presentation from the Federation of Indian Airlines
(FIA) on the service tax issue and they are having discussion with the
finance ministry. They will raise the issue in front of the ministry and
are expecting to come up with some solution soon.

Nasim has
said that in the earlier presentation given by the FIA to Civil Aviation
Minister Vayalar Ravi, the contract was opposed. The opposition was
against the obligation of the 10 percent service tax in business class
on domestic flights. There is a 10 percent service tax in business and
first classes on the international flights as well.

Chairman of
Kingfisher Airlines Mr. Vijay Mallya has informed the reporters that the
tax increase decision would be passed on to the consumer and the
government should reconsider their decision.

In the recent
budget, Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee had planned to increase
service tax on air travel by Rs. 50 in domestic air travel and Rs. 250
on global journeys by economy class.