Taking a U-turn, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Sunday said the government had no intention to privatize Air India.

Earlier, Mr. Ajit had said that the union government could explore the possibility of privatizing the loss-making national carrier as it was very difficult for the government to run a highly-competitive service industry.

The remarks attracted severe criticism from the BJP-led Opposition. BJP accused the government of trying to sell public assets without seeking parliament's approval. Senior CPI leader D Raja described any such move by the government as "disastrous," adding that any such move would go against national interest.

Bowing to pressure, Mr. Ajit said there was no plan to sell the national carrier, but he also declared that the government would not inject any more money into the carrier.

Backtracking from his previous remarks, Mr. Ajit said, "This government has no intention to privatize Air India. After this package of Rs 32,000 crore, the government will not give any more money. Air India will have to fend for itself."

The Minister, however, reiterated that it is very difficult for the government to run a service industry, and that Air India's employees would have to understand that civil aviation is a very competitive field.