Transport minister T. R. Baalu with his French counterpart, Gilles de Robien, in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)

New Delhi, April 25: After US transport secretary Norman Mineta's bid to push sales of Boeing earlier this month, it was the turn of French transport minister Gilles de Robien to try sell European aircraft maker Airbus?s products to the two state-run airlines ? Indian Airlines and Air-India.

?We know quality speaks for itself. There is no need to put pressure. The Airbus aircraft are known for their safety and reliability record worldwide," Robien told newspersons here after an hour-long meeting with civil aviation minister Praful Patel.

?If a decision is taken in an objective manner, then there is no other choice,? he said.

Indian Airlines has informed the cabinet of the price negotiations it has carried out with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie for the 43 aircraft it is buying.

Officials said the final price for the mix of Airbus-319s, Airbus-320s and Airbus-321s to be delivered over four years between 2005 and 2009, is slightly below Rs 9,000 crore. The CCEA is expected to take a decision on the purchase by this month.

However, the French do not want to be kept out of the action from the purchase order that the other state-run carrier, Air-India, is preparing.

The AI board has completed technical evaluations of the rival Boeing and Airbus offers and things are supposed to hinge on price negotiations. The planes in the fray are Boeing 737-200LR, Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 7E7-8 from Boeing Corp and variants of Airbus 340 and 380.

But in reality, politics dictates such purchase decisions as much as prices, which are usually neck and neck. Sources say in Air-India's case, Boeing will be the preferred buy as India would like to balance the purchases as well as firm up its new friendship with the US.

US President George Bush has already lobbied with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the purchase and sources said a quiet assurance has gone from the Indian side that Boeing will be considered favourably.

However, the Boeing deal hinges on the US agreeing to the Indian demand that it parts with sensitive technologies as part of a package to sell three Boeings for VIP use to India.

The US has always been keen on selling these Boeing business jets to the Indian government. But over the last few years, a tussle had been raging on the security features they would come with.