Made-in-India civil aircraft to take to skies within two years: Union Civil Aviation Rammohan
Visakhapatnam, Nov 12 (TNT) : India will have a fully indigenously manufactured civil aircraft within the next two years, Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu announced on Thursday.
Addressing a special plenary session on ‘The Next Step for Indian Aviation: Connectivity, Capacity, Competitiveness’ held at the ongoing 31st CII Partnership Summit here, Rammohan said India’s civil aviation sector had emerged as a model for the world and the country was moving towards developing its own civilian aircraft.
The Union Minister said the number of airports in the country had increased from 74 in 2014 to 166 at present, while annual air passenger traffic had reached 25 crore, reflecting the expansion of the aviation sector following the introduction of the UDAN regional connectivity scheme.
Under the second phase of UDAN, launched with an allocation of Rs.30,000 crore, the government planned to develop another 100 airports and 200 modern heliports by 2036, he said.
Technology initiatives such as Digi Yatra had also improved passenger convenience, reducing airport entry time from around 90 seconds to 20 seconds, he added.
Highlighting Andhra Pradesh’s aviation potential, Rammohan said the State was making rapid progress under the leadership of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The completion of Bhogapuram International Airport six months ahead of its scheduled deadline was commendable, he said.
The State government was also working on establishing an Aerospace and Defence City near Lepakshi in Anantapur district. Plans were being prepared to introduce seaplane services connecting Prakasam Barrage, Srisailam and Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad, he said.
Calling upon industries and young entrepreneurs to utilise the emerging opportunities, the Union Minister said the aviation sector offered significant investment potential in aircraft component manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities, drones and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL).
The plenary also discussed the need to expand air connectivity, strengthen airport and airline capacity and improve India’s competitiveness in the global aviation sector.
Vaibhav Vohra, Co-Chair of the CII National Committee on Civil Aviation and Managing Director of Continental Carriers, Jodhbir Singh Sachdeva, Partner, KPMG, Anubhav Kumar, Head of Strategy and Government Policy, Boeing India and South Asia, and Dr. Abhay Pashilkar, Director, CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories, participated in the discussions.
UNEP Senior Advisor Sudhir Perla also attended.
