In good news for aero sports enthusiasts in the country, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has come out with a draft of National Aero Sports Policy-2022 and sought comments from the public till January 31. This will help to promote aero sports culture in the country.
The new policy would enable Bir-Billing in Himachal Pradesh, Gangtok in Sikkim, Hadapsar in Maharashtra, or Vagamon in Kerala to be declared as ‘central zone’ for all sports. Besides, there is a possibility that Ranikhet in Uttarakhand, Nandi Hills in Karnataka, Kamshet in Maharashtra, Yelagiri in Tamil Nadu and Shillong in Meghalaya can also emerge as major paragliding hubs in the country.
This would also ensure hassle free flying by air sports enthusiasts without creating any risk to national security or safety of other manned aircraft. This is the first time that the ministry is planning to formulate a national air sports policy as well as set up an apex body for air sports, and aims to make India one of the top air sports nations by 203O.
The draft policy has included aerobatics , aero-modeling, amateur-built and experimental aircraft , ballooning, drones, gliding, hang gliding and paragliding, microlighting and paramotoring, skydiving and vintage aircraft. The new draft policy came days after a parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture expressed its displeasure that the government was not doing enough to encourage aero sports in the country.
As per the draft report, the government may consider encouraging domestic manufacturing of certain high value air sports equipment by way of a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme. The incentive may be linked to value addition in India. The plan is to promote air sports by making it "safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable and sustainable", according to the ministry. Domestic design, development and manufacturing of air sports equipment will be promoted in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, it mentioned. Under the policy, an Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) will be established as the apex governing body while associations for each air sport will handle day to day activities.
The policy requires all people and entities providing air sports services to register as members of the respective air sports associations. They will also have to register the key equipment used for air sports with the respective air sports association.
The draft has been prepared by a committee comprising senior officials from the Union government, Indian armed forces, Aero Club of India, National Cade Corps and air sports experts. The youth of India represent the future of air sports. Programs aimed at raising interest towards air sports and a career in air sports will be encouraged. Schools, colleges and universities will be encouraged to have air sports included in their curriculum. Students will be encouraged to participate in Fédération Aéronautique Internationale ( FAI)’s international competitions conducted periodically for children in different age categories. Aero modelling and drone sports will be promoted at schools and NCC.
The air sports associations will be accountable to ASFI with respect to the regulatory oversight. Further, ASFI shall represent India at FAI and other global platforms related to air sports. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland is the world governing body for air sports. "The vision is to make India one of the top air sports nations by 2030," the ministry said.
An airspace map of India published on aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) DigitalSky platform, segregates the airspace of India into red, yellow and green zones, which will allow air sports practitioners to rely on this easily accessible map for guidance. Operation in red and yellow zones requires permission from Central Government and the concerned Air Traffic Control authority respectively. Operation in green zones for aircraft with all-up weight up to 500 kg does not require any permission.
A parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture headed by T G Venkatesh in its recent report, presented in Parliament has expressed its displeasure that the government was not doing enough to encourage aero sports in the country despite the fact that there is a tremendous potential in the country keeping in view the diverse scenic locales. The report said it was "disappointed" to note that a mere token allocation of Rs one crore was made for the ‘development of aero sports’.