NEW DELHI: India’s air traffic is seeing a record recovery from the pandemic blow and the time has come for the country to become a hub for manufacturing aerospace products. Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday cited the unprecedented highs of 4.3-4.4 lakh daily domestic passengers often being seen in lean travel March at a summit organised by aviation consultancy CAPA. A far cry from three years ago when aircraft were idling on ground during Covid.
“Surprisingly, the situation has turned the other way. Now we do not have enough aircraft to fly our passengers,” he said. Over 100 planes of Indian carriers led by IndiGo and GoFirst are grounded primarily due to Pratt & Whitney’s inability to supply engines and spares.
Air India recently ordered 470 aircraft while IndiGo is yet to get 500 more from earlier orders while expected to place a new even bigger one shortly. All combined, Indian carriers are together projected to have a fleet of around 2,000 planes in the next five to seven years.
“Time is ripe for aerospace products’ manufacturing to take off in India. Boeing’s exports from India already cross $1 billion worth and airbus is at $650 million. Collins Aerospace exports a lot. Tata and Airbus will jointly make C295 (defence aircraft) in Gujarat,” Scindia said.
Citing recent successes like getting more states to cut VAT on jet fuel and putting drones to daily use, he says the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has zoomed from Rs 60 crore to Rs 800 crore in 12 months.
“This industry will touch Rs 3 lakh crore by 2030 and provide 2.5 jobs,” the minister said. “Consultations are going on to amend both Aircraft Act and rules to further improve the ease of doing business. There is an S-shaped evolution curve for all sectors and in the case of the civil aviation sector, India is between the infancy and growth phase.” The ‘S’ indicates infancy, growth, and maturity phases.
The government had recently relaxed the rules for wet leasing aircraft (hiring them with operating crew) to enable airlines to add aircraft and meet passenger demand given Pratt & Whitney’s unending woes that have gripped both GoFirst and IndiGo.
“Surprisingly, the situation has turned the other way. Now we do not have enough aircraft to fly our passengers,” he said. Over 100 planes of Indian carriers led by IndiGo and GoFirst are grounded primarily due to Pratt & Whitney’s inability to supply engines and spares.
Air India recently ordered 470 aircraft while IndiGo is yet to get 500 more from earlier orders while expected to place a new even bigger one shortly. All combined, Indian carriers are together projected to have a fleet of around 2,000 planes in the next five to seven years.
“Time is ripe for aerospace products’ manufacturing to take off in India. Boeing’s exports from India already cross $1 billion worth and airbus is at $650 million. Collins Aerospace exports a lot. Tata and Airbus will jointly make C295 (defence aircraft) in Gujarat,” Scindia said.
Citing recent successes like getting more states to cut VAT on jet fuel and putting drones to daily use, he says the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has zoomed from Rs 60 crore to Rs 800 crore in 12 months.
“This industry will touch Rs 3 lakh crore by 2030 and provide 2.5 jobs,” the minister said. “Consultations are going on to amend both Aircraft Act and rules to further improve the ease of doing business. There is an S-shaped evolution curve for all sectors and in the case of the civil aviation sector, India is between the infancy and growth phase.” The ‘S’ indicates infancy, growth, and maturity phases.
The government had recently relaxed the rules for wet leasing aircraft (hiring them with operating crew) to enable airlines to add aircraft and meet passenger demand given Pratt & Whitney’s unending woes that have gripped both GoFirst and IndiGo.
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