During a three-hour interactive session with owners of private airlines, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday that plans are afoot to draw up fresh regulations to ensure more serious civil aviation ventures to enter the burgeoning market in India.

"No longer would airline companies be granted the license and allowed to firm up their business plans. Now, airline companies have to first draw up their business strategy and recruit pilots and ground engineers and then seek a license," he said.

He cautioned the private airlines to maintain their financial bottom line in order to prevent a repeat of the aviation bubble and bust of early 1990s when a number of carriers, including East West, Damania, ModiLuft and NEPC, collapsed due to persisting losses.

His remarks came a few days after Air Deccan, the private low-cost airline, reported a cumulative loss of Rs 340 crore during a 15-month period ending June 2006. Air Deccan offers the cheapest airfare in different segments in domestic aviation.

Patel said all major airlines, including Jet Airways and low-cost Air Deccan and Spicejet, have reported losses cumulatively running into about Rs 600 crore.

The reports of losses in the aviation industry were a cause for concern for the government which did not wish to see any airline declaring itself sick, he said.

Kingfisher Airlines, a budget airline promoted by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, is estimated to have incurred losses to the tune of Rs 240 crore in the first year of its operation. Other major carriers like Jet Airways, Spicejet and Air Sahara are struggling to shore up the financial health.

While the profit of state-owned Air India came down, Indian Airlines is also facing pressure due to rising input costs. Even none of the new entrants in aviation sector like GoAir, IndiGo and Paramount are in the black, industry sources said.

Two most important reasons cited for the dwindling financial bottom line of the carriers are escalating price of aviation turbine fuel and cut-throat race to slash fare in order to attract more and more passengers.

While maintaining that the airline business was best run by the industry and not the government, Patel, however, said the government has a word of caution. "We do not intend to control fares or pricing strategy but the airlines must look at their overall financial health. We do not want a repeat of 1991".