July 22 (Reuters) - Air India said on Tuesday it has

grounded a passenger jet for checks after a power generator

caught fire shortly after landing at India's capital city, New

Delhi.

The aircraft's auxillary power unit (APU) caught fire

when its passengers were getting off the aircraft, and was

automatically shut down, a spokesperson for the airline said in

a statement.

APU is an electrical power generator typically located

at the rear of an aircraft. Its primary function is to start the

main engines and power essential onboard systems while the

airplane is parked at the airport.

Passengers "disembarked normally" and are safe but the

aircraft, which was flying from Hong Kong, suffered some damage,

the airline said. It did not elaborate on the damages caused to

the plane.

The impacted flight is an Airbus A321, data from

flightradar24 showed.

Air India said it has notified the regulator of the

incident. India's aviation regulator was not immediately

available for comment.

Air India has come under heightened scrutiny in the

aftermath of one of its planes crashing fatally in the western

Ahmedabad city in June, which killed 260 people.

An Air India jet veered off the runway as it landed

during heavy rain in Mumbai on Monday, and suffered damages on

the underside of one of its engines.