Rent row intensifies between Indian ministries

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The country's departments of civil aviation and tourism have clashed again, this time over rent owed for the tourism ministry's kiosks at international airports

The dispute between India's ministries of tourism and civil aviation has escalated, according to local reports. The two departments are arguing over rent at tourist kiosks operated by the tourism ministry at the country's international airports, which are managed by the civil aviation ministry.

According to the Indian Express the civil aviation department is asking the tourism ministry to pay commercial rents at the kiosks, while the tourism ministry believes the services it provides - taxi bookings, hotel reservations and tourist information - fall under its governmental remit and is therefore not commercial.

The government departments had already been arguing over back rent owed by India Tourism Development Corp (ITDC) - the duty-free retailing arm of the tourism ministry - to the civil aviation ministry. That dispute resulted in ITDC being barred for tenders for additional duty-free space at 10 Indian airports earlier this year, and when the case was taken to court the judge reprimanded the ministries for wasting public money on an intra-governmental issue and asked the parties to settle their differences out of court.