The Ministry of Civil Aviation will get Rs 2300 crore in the year 2024-2025, lower than the current fiscal’s revised estimate of Rs 2922.12 crore, and initial estimate of Rs 3113.36 crore.
Presenting the interim Budget for 2024-25, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that Indian airlines have placed orders for 1,000 new aircraft since the aviation sector has seen an expansion due to the Modi government 2.0’s policies. India’s regional air connectivity scheme Udan will receive Rs 502 crore in the next fiscal year, lower than the revised estimate of Rs 850 crore for the year 2024 and the initial estimate of Rs 1,244 crore. The amount will be spent to revive 22 airports, start 124 air routes, and finance viability gap funding for north-east connectivity.
She further said that the number of airports in India has doubled to 149 and 517 new air routes are carrying upto 1.3 crore passengers. Sitharaman added that said the expansion of existing airports and development of new airports will continue expeditiously. India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world and domestic air passenger traffic is on the rise. “The aviation sector has been galvanised in the past ten years. Number of airports have doubled to 149. Roll out of air connectivity to tier-two and tier-three cities under UDAN 19 scheme has been widespread. Five hundred and seventeen new routes are carrying 1.3 crore passengers. Indian carriers have pro-actively placed orders for over 1000 new aircrafts. Expansion of existing airports and development of new airports will continue expeditiously,” Sitharaman said.
“Roll out of air connectivity to tier-two and tier-three cities under UDAN scheme has been widespread. Five hundred and seventeen new routes are carrying 1.3 crore passengers,” she said. Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) or the regional air connectivity scheme is mainly aimed at making flying more affordable.
“Expansion of existing airports and development of new airports will continue expeditiously,” the minister said. Three domestic carriers -- Air India, IndiGo and Akasa Air -- have together ordered a total of 1,120 planes in less than one year. Air India, now owned by the Tata Group, has placed orders for 470 aircraft-- 250 from Airbus and 220 from Boeing. Of the 220 planes Air India will purchase from Boeing, 190 will be B737 MAX, 20 B787 and 10 B777X. In 2023, Air India and IndiGo together placed orders for 970 planes with Boeing and Airbus. Last month, Akasa Air announced an order for 150 Boeing 737 Max aircraft
According to budget document, out of the total amount, Air India Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL) will get Rs 1,158.79 crore in the next fiscal, higher than Rs 713.92 crore allocated for 2023-24. The provision is kept for servicing of loans transferred to AIAHL as a result of financial restructuring of Air India, as per the Budget document. AIAHL is a special purpose vehicle formed by the government that holds various assets of the national carrier Air India.
The allocation for Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Drone and Drone Component has been hiked to Rs 57 crore for 2024-25, from Rs 33 crore in the current fiscal.
According to the Budget document, the money earmarked for the regulators -- DGCA and BCAS -- have been reduced for 2024-25. The budgetary allocation for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be Rs 302.64 crore and for the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the amount is Rs 89 crore. In the revised Budget estimate for 2023-24, the allocation for DGCA and BCAS is Rs 397.55 crore and Rs 100.02 crore, respectively.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim Budget on Thursday and it is also the last Budget of the Modi government before the general polls.