Airfare caps should be in force till duopoly in airline sector remains: Chidambaram
New Delhi (PTI): After the government introduced airfare caps in the wake of IndiGo flight disruptions, Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the Ministry of Civil Aviation has finally woken up and demanded that such price containment should remain in force till a duopoly in the airline sector exists.
The disruptions in IndiGo's operations resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations and delays in the last few days, causing hardships to thousands of passengers across the country.
In a post on X, the former finance minister said, "I am glad that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has woken up at last and capped the Economy Class fares".
"As long the duopoly in the airline sector remains, caps on Economy Class fares must remain in force
"Absent robust competition, the only way to protect public interest is price containment. The overwhelming majority of the passengers must be protected (sic)," Chidambaram said.
He earlier said that the meltdown of Indigo operations and the chaos in airports throughout the country point to a massive failure of the Management of Indigo, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA and the whole government.
Noting that the new pilot duty time rules were notified in January 2024, Chidambaram said, "Yet, over the past 23 months, the government failed to guide the airline to adapt its operations to the new Rules. The MoCA and DGCA are squarely responsible."
"When the crisis started and escalated, the government was clueless and helpless, and eventually capitulated," the Congress leader alleged.
The ministry on Friday suspended implementation of new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules following the crisis.
In the two-page order on capping the airfares, the ministry said on Saturday that disruptions in flight operations of one of the scheduled airlines has resulted in flight cancellations, leading to capacity constraints and an unreasonable surge in the fares on a number of sectors.
The airline operated more flights on Saturday at around 1,500, against about 800 cancellations.
IndiGo is operating 1,650 flights of its 2,300 daily domestic and international flights on Sunday, and 650 remain cancelled for the day, amid the airline's operations gradually stabilising after massive disruptions in the last five days, the airline said.
I am glad that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has woken up at last and capped the Economy Class fares
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) December 7, 2025
As long the duopoly in the airline sector remains, caps on Economy Class fares must remain in force
Absent robust competition, the only way to protect public interest is price…
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
