Debt-ridden national carrier Air India does not have the funds to pay for the 27 Boeing 787s it has ordered, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said Sept. 9, a day after the country’s nodal public auditing agency flayed the state-run airline’s hasty expansion plans.

NEW DELHI — The Indian Air Force is weathering strong criticism from the country’s auditing agency for a delay in buying 37 low-level transportable radars (LLTRs) meant to plug gaps in aerial surveillance. “As against the envisaged time of 29 months, the procurement took 49 months due to delay in each stage,” India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) says in its Sept. 8 report.

Air India’s management, under fire for past financial decisions, must be left alone by the government to have a chance for survival, says a new report by a nodal public auditing agency. The Indian comptroller and auditor general (CAG), in a Sept. 8 report to parliament, recommends “a total hands-off approach” with regard to managing the airline. It says Air India has “inherent strengths,” but there is no evidence that the Civil Aviation Ministry has given the carrier positive support in the past few years.