Government Grounds Boeing 737 MAX Planes; Jet, SpiceJet Shares Fall

Government is grounding US planemaker Boeing Co's 737 MAX aircraft immediately, the ministry of civil aviation said late on Tuesday, following the fatal crash of a plane of the same type in Ethiopia on Sunday.

"These planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations," the ministry said in a Twitter post.

Jet Airways Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd, two top Indian airlines, operate Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

SpiceJet suspended Boeing 737 Max operations after the regulator's decision to ground the aircraft, SpiceJet's spokesman said on Wednesday.

"We will be working with the regulator and the manufacturer to attain normalcy in our operations," he added.

The European Union's aviation safety regulator earlier on Tuesday suspended all flights in the bloc by Boeing 737 MAX planes, joining a wave of suspensions of the aircraft across the globe.

SpiceJet's shares plunged 5.5 per cent in the first few minutes of trade while Jet was trading 2.2 per cent lower.

Shares of low-cost airline InterGlobe Aviation rose 2.9 per cent as it operates Airbus planes.