Minister of State in the Ministry Of Civil Aviation (Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh Retd) has informed that The details of the growth rate registered in the aviation sector in the country and northern parts during the last two years are provided at Annexure-
As per the traffic forecast by Airports Authority of India (AAI), the all-India passenger throughput growth for the next three years is provided at Annexure II. These projections, however, are subject to reassessment given the unpredictable nature of the Covid pandemic and the sharp increase in aviation fuel prices recently.
The Government has taken several steps to meet the increasing demand in aviation sector in future, some of which include the following:
(i) AAI has taken up development of new and existing airports with a projected capital expenditure of around Rs. 25,000 crores in next five years. This includes construction of new terminals, expansion and modification of existing terminals, expansion and/ or strengthening of existing runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS) infrastructure, control towers and technical blocks etc.
(ii) The Public Private Partnership (PPP) airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are undertaking major expansion projects of around Rs. 30,000 crores by 2025. Additionally, Rs. 36,000 crores have been planned for investment in the development of new Greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode.
(iii) Government of India has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country. So far, eight Greenfield airports namely, Sindhudurg and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh, Kalaburagi in Karnataka and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh have been operationalized.
(iv) Under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UdeDeshkaAamNagrik (UDAN), 405 routes connecting 65 airports (including 8 heliports and 2 water aerodromes) have been operationalised as on 08th March 2022.
(v) Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate has been reduced from 18% to 5% for domestic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services.
(vi) A conducive aircraft leasing and financing environment has been enabled.
(vii) The domestic capacity of the airlines has been restored to full, as in during pre-Covid times.
(viii) Improvement in air navigation infrastructure at Indian airports is being carried out.
(ix) The number of freighter aircraft deployed by Indian carriers has been increased from 7 in 2018 to 28 in 2021. As a result, the share of Indian carriers in international freighter movements has increased from 2% to 19% over last two years.
Annexure I
| Total passenger through put at airports in Northern part of India and all Indian airports taken together (in million) | ||||
| Year | Airports in Northern part of India | % Change over previous year | All Indian airports taken together | % Change over previous year |
| 2019-20 | 96.03 | -0.8 | 341.05 | -1.1 |
| 2020-21 | 36.21 | -62.3 | 115.38 | -66.2 |
| Current Year | ||||
| 2020-21 (Apr-Jan) | 25.63 | – | 81.56 | – |
| 2021-22 (Apr-Jan) | 47.57 | 85.6 | 146.80 | 80.0 |
Annexure II
| Passenger throughput forecast – All Indian airports | |
| Year | Total pax (in million) |
| 2019-20 (Actual) | 341 |
| 2020-21 (Actual) | 115 |
| Growth Rate | 73% |
| 2021-22 | 200 |
| Growth Rate | 69% |
| 2022-23 | 338 |
| Growth Rate | 20% |
| 2023-24 | 404 |
| Growth Rate | 11% |
| 2024-25 | 449 |