Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The Government continues to undertake several measures to make the civil aviation sector a major attraction and to develop it as a major partner in the national economy. They include the following:
(i) The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken up development programme to spend around Rs 25,000 crores in next 4-5 years for expansion and modification of existing terminals, new terminals, expansion or strengthening of existing runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS), control towers, technical blocks etc.
(ii) Three Public Private Partnership (PPP) airports at Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, have undertaken major expansion plan to the tune of Rs 30,000 Crore by 2025. Additionally, Rs 36,000 Crore have been planned for investment in the development of new Greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode.
(iii) Government of India (GoI) has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country. So far, eight Greenfield airports namely, Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh, Kalaburagi in Karnataka, Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh have been operationalised.
(iv) Under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), also known as the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) Scheme, as on November 24, 2021, 393 routes have commenced connecting 62 unserved and underserved airports, including 2 water aerodromes and 6 heliports.
(v) Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate reduced to 5% from 18% for domestic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services.
(vi) A conducive aircraft leasing and financing environment has been enabled.
(vii) The domestic capacity deployment of domestic carriers has been restored to full, as in pre-Covid times.
(viii) Improvement in air navigation infrastructure at Indian airports is being carried out.
(ix) The number of freighter aircraft deployed by Indian carriers has increased from 7 in 2018 to 28 in 2021. As a result, the share of Indian carriers in international freighter movements to and from India increased from 2% to 19% over the last two years.
The Government published the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016 on June 15, 2016. Its mission is to provide safe, secure, affordable,and sustainable air travel for passengers and air transportation of cargo with access to various parts of India and the world. NCAP 2016 envisages policy reforms and action steps that lead to enhancement in domestic ticketing to 50 crore by 2027, international ticketing to 20 crore by 2027, and cargo volumes to 10 million tonnes by 2027, according to a PIB release.
NCAP 2016 laid down the roadmap for various aspects of Indian aviation like: Regional connectivity scheme, Safety, Air Transport Operations, International Operations, Bilateral traffic rights, Fiscal Support, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, Helicopters, Air-cargo etc. The Regional Connectivity Scheme (also known as the ‘UDAN scheme’) launched on April 27, 2017, was a key component of NCAP 2016.
100% FDI has been permitted in Greenfield and existing airport projects and also specified sectors under Air Transport Services, Ground Handling Services, Maintenance and Repair organizations, Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) and technical training institutions subject to sectoral regulations and conditions specified in FDI Policy.
The details of foreign share-holdings in some of the airports are as follows:
(i) Delhi International Airport Limited – Fraport AG -10% and Eraman Malaysia – 10%
(ii) Bangalore International Airport Limited – SIEMENS – 20% and FIH (Mauritius) Investments Limited – 54%
(iii) Hyderabad International Airport Limited – MAHB (Mauritius) Private Limited and Associates – 11%
(iv) Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport, Durgapur – Changi Airport International – 30%.
(v) Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, Jewar – Zurich Airport International AG – 100%
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry Of Civil Aviation (Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabhaon November 29, 2021.