K Rammohan Naidu, BA

Highlighting the aviation sector’s growth potential, Union minister K Rammohan Naidu on Wednesday said efforts are on to make India a global aviation hub as well as to start manufacturing aircraft in the country. With Asia-Pacific region poised to lead global aviation growth, Naidu said strategic investments in infrastructure and collaboration amongst the regional stakeholders is critical to achieving sustainable growth across the sector.

Speaking at the second Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation in the national capital, Naidu emphasised on three elements — infrastructure, integration and innovation — for the sector’s growth.

“My ministry is working with the vision of establishing a seamless aviation landscape in the country, integrating helicopters and seaplane operations alongside wide-body aircraft under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN,” he noted.

India is one of the world’s fastest growing civil aviation markets and the fleet size of domestic carriers has increased to around 800 from 400 in 2014 while the number of domestic passengers climbed from 67 million to 152 million during the same period.

The number of operational airports have grown from 74 in 2014 to 157. “We have an ambitious plan of scaling this up to 350-400 airports by 2047,” the civil aviation minister said.

The country is also well-positioned to offer cost-effective and high quality MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) services to domestic and international airlines, he noted. According to him, the government is looking at ways to boost indigenous production capabilities and also start manufacturing aircraft in the country. While noting that the aviation industry has long been recognised as a significant contributor to global carbon emissions, the minister said India is promoting adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

“The target is to blend 1 per cent of sustainable aviation fuel with jet fuel in 2027, 2 per cent in 2028 and 5 per cent by 2030 for all international flights,” he added.

Around 250 representatives from 41 countries are expected to participate in the two-day conference that began on Wednesday.