President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said India is poised to become a major manufacturing base for the aerospace sector and is expected to add about 800 aircraft by 2020 to meet the growth in demand.
He said the Centre is planning to invest over $120 billion in development of airport infrastructure and navigation services.
Inaugurating India Aviation 2016 at Hyderabad, the President said the country is at the threshold of a major change in the aviation sector which is poised for faster growth with the development of 100 smart cities, new economic corridors, more than 50 new airports and the expansion of existing airports.
As per estimates, he said India would be the third-largest civil aviation market. With a network of domestic and 85 international airliners connecting 40 countries, Indian airports handled passenger traffic of 190 million persons in 2015. Yet India is one of the least penetrated air-markets in the world with 0.04 trips per capita per annum, compared with 0.3 of China and more than 2 per cent in the US.
Increased demand The President said India will require at least 800 aircraft by 2020 to cater to the phenomenal increase of air passengers and freight traffic.
India Aviation 2016 brings together developers and operators of airport infrastructure, airliners and aircraft and helicopter manufacturers, among others.
With the government focussing on ‘Make in India’ to boost manufacturing, this will facilitate investment, foster innovation, protect intellectual property and build a world class manufacturing infrastructure, the President said.
The Open Sky Policy and greater focus on infrastructure will make India a manufacturing hub for the aerospace industry, he said.