The aviation sector today is evolving from being a restrictive regulator to becoming a constructive collaborator, thereby focussing on becoming a more customer centric industry, said Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, during an interactive session at the first CII Global Economic Policy Summit held on 18 November. He was speaking at the session of Air India Privatisation: Lessons for the Future.
Akin to the auto sector, the aviation industry has an entire ecosystem comprising of OEMs and ancillaries built around it, he added. MROs (maintenance, repair and overhaul), Flying Training Organisations (FTOs), cargo, ground hauling, manufacturing, regional airlines, helicopters, academia and consultants are some of the areas the Ministry is working upon.
Pointing out the importance of helicopters in a country like India, he said they provide last mile connectivity and emergency services for highways. The Government has launched a new helicopter policy boosting their usage and also increasing their acquisition, as well as make it easier to operate them.
“The most important part of the aviation ecosystem is the MRO. The aviation industry is a Rs 90,000-crore business out of which 15% is MROs. MROs form a very small sliver of Rs 2000 crores on a fleet size which is going to grow to 2000 planes,” envisaged Shri Scindia.
It is equally important to establish flying training organisations in India as the country has a high requirement of pilots, most of whom get trained abroad, which causes drainage of forex. The Minister pointed out that MROs and FTOs had restrictive policies earlier which has now been changed, thus bringing down the rental rates to 10% of what it was.
On the drone industry, Shri Scindia opined that there is going to be an evolution in the way we live, facilitated by both drones and the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The new drone policy has completely deregulated the space and provided very cohesive and clear steps for investors. The PLI scheme for the drone sector is about twice the size of the industry which shall result in a massive demand growth in the next decade.
The Minister outlined the enormous cargo potential in India. “In these pandemic times, we have gone from 2% share to 19% share in international cargo which is a huge opportunity for India.” The government aims to carve out airspace dedicated to helicopters only. “We are also setting up 5 Heli-hubs in India- Akshardham, Rohini, Juhu, Guwahati and Bangalore, devoted to helicopters,” he added.
Mr Sunil Kant Munjal, Past President, CII and Chairman, Hero Enterprise, lauded the dynamic progress made over the last few months, including privatisation of Air India.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII pointed out the many sub-sectors that are driving the aviation ecosystem.
18 November 2021