Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in early February said that aviation sector is one of the critical enablers for India’s endeavour towards a USD 5 trillion economy. Addressing a virtual session organised by FICCI during the Aero India 2021, he said: “Today, India is the third largest domestic aviation market and poised to become third largest in the overall civil aviation market very soon.”

“The Indian aviation sector has grown exponentially in last few years and is one of the critical enablers as well as an indicator for India’s endeavour towards a USD 5 trillion economy.” Besides, he said the PM’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is not just about manufacturing for the world, it is also about creating jobs and the aviation sector has significant multiplier effect on job creation. About the government’s vision of 2040, Puri said that it talks about India as an aviation hub.

To fully realise its potential, the government is focusing on policies to add remote and regional areas to the map of Indian aviation, he added. Elaborating on the expansion of airports in the country, the minister said that they will be adding 100 new airports by 2024 and the figures indicate a mammoth opportunity in Indian civil aviation sector. Highlighting the importance of air cargo sector, he said that the resilience shown by Indian air cargo sector despite challenges posed by the pandemic drives home the benefit that has been brought through policy changes and recalibration of business models. “We expect that we may close the year 2021 at the same level of 2019-20,” Puri added.