Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh informed reporters that according to current estimates, Indian airports would require an investment of about Rs 67,000 crore during the next five years alone of which 75 per cent is likely to be contributed by the private sector.
It may be noted that the government approved 15 more airports under the Greenfield Airports policy with majority of them being developed under the public private partnership mode.
The minister also said that India has the potential to become a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub owing to growing aircraft fleet, location advantage and availability of talent.
To facilitate the growth of MRO business and to make it competitive, the government has recently decided to to give several concessions which include extension of time period allowed for utilisation of aircraft parts and others, he said.
The minister said this on the sidelines of a seminar on “General Aviation: the next step organised by Indo American Chambers of Commerce.
Singh said the decision to allow foreign direct investment in Indian carriers “will be a game changer for the Indian civil aviation sector in the long run.”
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the proposal of the Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia to set up an airline company in joint venture with Tata Sons Group and Arun BhatiaÂ’s Telestra Tradeplace received approval from the finance ministry.
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