On February 18, 1911, a 23-year-old Frenchman, Henri Pequet, flew the first official airmail flight over the Yamuna River. This 10-kilometre flight between Prayagraj (then Allahabad) and Naini was a part of the Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition and started India’s unique tryst with commercial aviation.
Today, India is the third largest domestic civil aviation market in the world after China and the US. Domestic passengers more than doubled from 60 million in 2014 to 143 million in 2020, prior to Covid-19. There has also been a significant increase in international air passengers — from 23 million to 35 million. Flying is no longer looked upon as an elitist luxury but a necessary service. India’s civil aviation sector has not only democratised air travel by adding crores of first-time fliers but it has also provided employment opportunities for engineers, trained technicians and airline service staff.
Many private airlines have attempted to attract India’s large middle class into becoming commercial air travellers by offering no-frills, cost-effective services. Central to this strategy was to make flight operations to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities commercially viable. To accelerate this, in 2017, the Government of India approved a budget of Rs 4,500 crore for the revival of existing unserved and underserved airports and airstrips through the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). Since then, UDAN — Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik — has expedited connectivity to non-metros. Left to private enterprise alone, connectivity to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities in India would have taken a very long time.
Today, approximately 475 UDAN routes involving 73 airports including nine heliports and two water aerodromes have been operationalised. About 75 routes, which is more than 15 per cent, connect the Northeast where terrain and other challenges require a robust air network. Since its inception, over 1.14 crore passengers have travelled in more than 2.16 Lakh UDAN flights and Rs 2,300 crore has been paid to selected airlines by the government as a part of the viability gap funding. As a result, the number of operational airports in India has almost doubled from 74 to 147 in the last eight years.
Indian flight operators have a fleet size of approximately 750 aircraft. As flight operations in India continue to grow, the fleet size is expected to increase rapidly. To keep the aircraft airworthy, regular maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) is required. The growth in the country’s fleet size is positively correlated with the growth in MRO-related work.
As per industry estimates, the market size of the MRO sector in India stood at around $2 billion, catering to 15 per cent of our domestic MRO work. The availability of a strong pool of English-speaking engineers at affordable rates gives India a natural advantage in increasing its share of MRO-related work.
To capitalise on this, the government issued new MRO Guidelines to encourage MRO organisations and OEMs to set up workshops in India. The steps taken towards making India a global hub of MRO include 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment permitted via automatic route for MRO, a liberalised policy for borrowing and lending in foreign currency and Indian currency on competitive terms for MROs and reduction of GST from 18 per cent to 5 per cent with full Input Tax Credit.
As the Indian fleet size grows, the need for flying staff including commercial pilots, transport pilots and others will increase. At 1,165 commercial pilot licences, 2022 saw the largest number of commercial pilot licences issued over the last decade. The need for pilots has also led to an increase in Flight Training organisations (FTOs). Currently, India has 35 approved FTOs with 53 bases and an additional 10 are on the anvil. Similarly, the number of Air Traffic Controllers has increased from a little over 2,000 in 2012 to close to 4,000 in 2022.
Last year, the government issued guidelines for Production Linked Incentives (PLI) for drones with an outlay of Rs 120 crore over three years. The target segment contains drones and drone components. Coupled with this there has been a massive liberalisation of the drone policy under which 25 forms have been reduced to just five. Further, 72 types of fees have been reduced to four and approximately 90 per cent of airspace has been marked as ‘Green’ under which no permission is required to operate drones.
Another area where civil aviation policy has contributed is in the area of agriculture. The Krishi Udan Scheme is focused on transporting perishable food products of farmers from the hilly areas, north-eastern states and tribal areas.
India’s civil aviation ministry has also been instrumental in rescuing Indians and foreign nationals during emergencies. As a part of the Vande Bharat Mission, India operated air bubbles to facilitate the travel of 1.83 crore passengers during the various COVID-19 waves. Further, Operation Ganga rescued 22,500 Indian students from Ukraine at the peak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The synergy between tourism and civil aviation in propagating India’s tourism potential is well-known. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kushinagar airport in October 2021, he said that the airport is a tribute to the devotion of Buddhist communities around the world. He further stated that tourism in all its forms, whether for faith or leisure, needs modern infrastructure and airways are one of the most crucial components. Taking this into account, the Ministry of Tourism also funds more than 50 routes and has approved another 10 routes under the RCS-UDAN Scheme. As we enter Amrit Kaal, Indian aviation is flying high.
The writer is Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER and represents Secunderabad Parliamentary Constituency
