Investments worth $6 billion are expected in the country’s airport sector in five years with around $1 billion to be utilised for reviving aerodromes, a senior government official said on Wednesday. Bullish on future prospects of the domestic aviation sector, Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey said passenger growth is anticipated to be more than 30 per cent in the coming years.
In the new civil aviation policy, unveiled in June, the Government has come out with various measures for improving regional air connectivity and developing airports, among others. Speaking at the inauguration of the GAD Asia conference here, he said India would see investments of ‘$6 billion in five years in airports (sector)’. At current exchange rates, $6 billion would translate to nearly Rs 40,000 crore.
Out of the estimated total amount, around $1 billion would be used for reviving airports while about $3 billion would be for upgrading aerodromes owned by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), he added.
As the domestic aviation space is projected to see substantial growth, Choubey said there would be need for around 100 small aircraft in the next three years. Under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), the Government seeks to revive un-served as well as under-served airports, among others. Presently, around 75 out of 450 airstrips/airports have scheduled operations and revival of the remaining ones would be ‘demand driven’, depending on firm demand from airline operators, as per the new civil aviation policy. According to the policy, no-frills airports would be developed at an indicative cost of Rs 50-100 crore, without insisting on its financial viability.