900 Aircraft Orders Show Aviation Sector Set To Take Off, Says PM Modi

Mumbai:Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that the orders for over 900 aircraft, posted by airlines over the last one year, showed the aviation sector in the country is poised for huge growth. Currently, there are around 450 aircraft operating in the country, but that will more than triple, once the new planes are brought in over the next few years, he said at an event near Mumbai today.

Though India led global markets in a domestic air traffic growth in 2017, clogged airports and rising fuel prices could slow it down in the coming years despite several policy decisions, analysts say. A report by the research arm of rating agency Crisil in December said the growth could decelerate to "13-15 per cent annually in the five fiscals through 2022, compared with a blistering 22 per cent seen in FY16 and FY17." In the current financial year, the growth would be 17-19 per cent, lower than that in the last two years.

The Prime Minister took a dig at the Congress, saying, "Aviation sector worldwide is moving very fast... we cannot afford to lag. For 70 years, there was no aviation policy in India."
He was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Rs. 16,000-crore Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) and inauguration of the country's largest container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), built at a cost of Rs. 4,719 crore.

The NMIA will be the second international aviation hub for Mumbai, currently served by the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, which only operates two runways and has nearly reached its saturation point.

(With inputs from IANS)

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