It's a bit uncanny, for P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju seems to know the nature of questions that await him. He asks them himself, and then answers them patiently. And then, once in a while, the civil aviation minister throws a question or two back at me, possibly to check if I've followed him.

Of course, he knows that there will be questions galore on the civil aviation policy, which is expected to be announced next month. So he is ready to explain everything that you wanted to know about flying - but were afraid to ask - in great detail.

"We have had our inter-ministerial consultations and around 4 lakh people participated in the consultation process on the draft policy," he says. "And it was too much," he chuckles.

Raju is in the sprawling office of the civil aviation ministry in the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in south Delhi. Sitting behind his vast desk, the exuberant minister calls for tea and continues, "but it was a nice thing. When everyone participates, things become easier because you get a fairly good idea of what people expect. There will be some lobbying. But it will come into effect soon."

It's a cold day when we meet, and he's dressed in a thick brown sweater and a jacket. Tea and biscuits come in. "Delhi is not my cup of tea as far as weather is concerned," he says, rubbing his hands to warm himself.

His ministry has been criticised for sitting on the policy, which was scheduled to have been announced last year. But Raju is unperturbed.

"I don't want to set timelines. The government works on its own dynamics," he replies softly. It strikes me that for a burly man, his voice is unusually mellow.

One of the issues much discussed in aviation circles is whether the government will keep or abolish what is known as the 5/20 rule - which states that all airlines in India need five years of domestic flying experience and 20 aircraft in their fleet to fly abroad. While older airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Jet Airways support the rule, the new players, including AirAsia and Vistara, are all for a change

The minister too is not greatly in favour of it. "No other country in the world has a 5/20 rule. My thinking is that it pulls down Indian players," he says.

"We always complain that India hasn't risen to its potential in aviation. I have to convince my colleagues as I would like to remove the 5/20 rule because I want aviation to rise to its potential," he adds.

Raju wants to keep the aviation policy to be in effect for a fixed period of three to five years. "For business to plan, there has to be something definitive. Then whichever government comes into place can fine-tune the policy further," he says.

The ministry also wants to persuade the states to lower their value-added taxes (VAT) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF). Less VAT would mean lower prices, and that would translate into more flights. "The states which have worked out on less VAT have benefited from increased aviation activity in their airports," he holds.

From next week, aircraft will not have to be taken abroad for maintenance and repairs, when the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) depot near Nagpur starts operations. The MRO was in the pipeline for over 10 years.

"It is a $700-million business which can be conducted in India. Currently our airlines fly to Dubai, Singapore and Sri Lanka. But now we are going to do it here," he says cheerfully. "We have the skills. Our 'Make in India' comes into effect. It becomes a win-win situation for everyone."

He may sound like a Bharatiya Janata Party old-timer, but the 64-year-old minister is the lone representative of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the National Democratic Alliance Cabinet. A member of the TDP politburo, this is Raju's first innings in Lok Sabha.

Raju, who studied at Scindia School, Gwalior, and Hyderabad Public School, Hyderabad, and then graduated from V.S. Krishna College, Visakhapatnam, belongs to the Pusapati royal family of Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh. His father, P.V.G. Raju, the last crown prince of Vizianagaram, was a much revered socialist and politician of his time. He and his elder son Ananda Gajapathi Raju were with the Congress, but Raju has been a die-hard TDP loyalist.

He started his political career as a member of the legislative Assembly in 1978 and joined the TDP when it was formed in 1982 by former actor-turned-politician N.T. Rama Rao. In state politics, Raju has held several key portfolios including finance, excise, revenue and legislative affairs.

A cricket buff, he steered the Andhra Cricket Association as its president. His love for the game is perhaps inherited from his grand-uncle, Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju, popularly known as Vizzy, who captained the Indian cricket team before Independence and was also instrumental in financing the Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Stadium in Delhi.

As a youngster, however, Raju wanted to be a pilot. So it's not surprising that one of his wishes as aviation minister is to have world-class airports with parallel runways.

"We only have three modern airports - Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi - with parallel runways. But for a country of India's size, we need at least two more on the west coast and two in the east coast," he says. "If we have a modern airport, it would become a cargo hub. We need to take advantage of our varied climate zones and boost our agriculture. Do you know Trichy exports fruits and vegetables to Singapore? We need to have more of such business. I don't know why people think airports are only for people," he adds.

But what about "ghost airports", which don't function and are a sheer waste of taxpayers' money?

He points out that there are 32 airports in India which are inactive as of now. "These are non-performing assets and public money has gone into them. Even if you put it at the lowest price of Rs 100 crore, you have Rs 3,200 crore worth of investment idling away," he says, sounding exasperated.

"In the past, I understand, some people in aviation wanted airports in their backyards. But that's not the way aviation should work. Now we are working more on hunches,. There is no real study done, so I guess we have to apply our minds there and come to some kind of a conclusion," he says.

Some of these airports will get revived because they have an economic potential, he holds. Then, as an afterthought, he adds, "Also these are airports which may come into use in case of an emergency."

One of the biggest problems that any aviation minister has to deal with is India's national carrier, Air India. Will the airlines ever see good days?

"Air India is a lovely airline. They did extremely well in the Yemen rescue operations," he says, referring to a civil evacuation conducted by India during a military intervention in the West Asian country. "But they need to get their act together. If they work as a team they can pull that airline out."

He points out that many airlines employ retired employees from Air India. "So they have the expertise. This year, they have not had any operating loss. It is good news and music to my ears," he adds.

Raju is widely known as an "honest" politician. As a state legislator and a minister in Andhra Pradesh, he was known as someone who got work done. An Andhra Pradesh political observer stresses that he restored monuments in his constituency that were in a state of disrepair. His family trust has also donated 400 acres of land for a university in Visakhapatnam.

In Delhi, he is known as a man who shuns many of the privileges that come with the title of a minister. He doesn't, like many other ministers, take a car from an airport terminal to the aircraft, using instead the coach that ferries passengers. He is also known to stand in a queue for security checks.

So doesn't he enjoy being a politician?

"I didn't want to come anywhere near politics," he confesses. "But in 1975, when Indira Gandhi declared the Emergency, we, as youngsters, felt it was wrong. And my interest in politics got kindled," he replies. He has contested eight elections from Andhra Pradesh and won seven. "Now at the age of 64, I don't think I can go to any other line."

A self-confessed heavy smoker, perhaps the only time Raju courted controversy was when, about a year ago, he announced that he carried his matchboxes on flights as he was no longer frisked at the security checkpost. I want to ask him if he still carries matchboxes with him, but the minister, who foresees a question even before it is posed, dodges that cleverly. His assistant comes in just then to remind him of another appointment. Raju starts talking about foggy mornings and flight delays with him. I don't know about the matchbox, but story remains hidden in his pocket.