India’s domestic air passenger traffic is expected to touch 300 million by 2030, almost two-fold from the 153 million in 2023, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told the Wings India 2024 conference and exhibition that got underway in Hyderabad on January 18.
The country, however, would still remain one of the most under-penetrated markets among the top 20 globally moving up from existing 3%-4% to 10%-15% by the decade. Given the growth potential of the civil aviation sector, India has set out on a course of “creating capacities, removing bottlenecks and simplifying procedures,” he said.
“We are committed to ensure speedy growth of the sector. Our resolve is not to be regulatory in nature, but to be facilitative,” he asserted, adding the goal is to support a $20 trillion economy by 2047.
Seeking to highlight the pace of developments since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, Mr. Scindia said compared to 74 airports in the preceding 65 years, the government has either modernised or added 75 airports, waterdromes and heliports in the last 10 years. By 2030, this number [149] is expected to be upwards of 200, he said.
“It is our aim to expand the capability of our heliports so that every district has a modern heliport,” the Minister added.
Besides bringing more cities, especially tier II and III, on the aviation map, the emphasis has also been on creating more capacities in the metropolitan cities since they are key to functioning of the hub and spoke model. The throughput of six metros in the country will move up from 261 million passengers to 420 million in next four years with addition of a greenfield airport each in Navi Mumbai and in Jewar, near Delhi.
One of the aspects that make India an attractive civil aviation market is the potential to ramp up the fleet. The fleet size, which rose from 400 to more than 700, is set o move upwards of 2,000 in the next decade. “India has become the largest purchaser of aircraft in the world after the US and China,” he said. Several structural changes have been introduced with the focus on broadening and deepening the sector, the Minister said, pointing to the deregulation aimed at capacity building and the new policies launched for flying training organisations. In 2023 alone, 1,622 commercial pilot licences were issued.
Mr. Scindia also sought to highlight how the “huge perseverance” of the government resulted in 19 States lowering value added tax on aviation turbine fuel to 1%-4%. “In India today, 31 States and Union Territories levy 1%-5% [VAT on ATF] and only five outliers are left with a higher bracket.”
Given the emphasis on strengthening the institutional framework, the government added more manpower and capacity to the DGCA and ATCs. The air traffic controllers strength has increased from 2,700 to almost 4,000. An additional 500 employees will be joining this year, he said.
