Skift Take
Airport infrastructure is being ramped up in India to support expected demand, and airlines are also expanding their fleets. The next step is to make planes in India.
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The Indian aviation sector is poised for significant growth, and civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu believes the country might need 4,000 additional planes over the next two decades to cater to the demand. Currently, Indian airlines are operating around 800 planes and have an order book of over 1,200 aircraft.
The minister, while speaking at Airbus' India and South Asia Headquarters, added that in the next 20 years, 200 more airports will be developed in the country. During the event, civil aviation secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said air-passenger traffic in India is expected to double in the next five years. Last year, India recorded 220 million air passengers.
Made In India Planes: The minister said the government’s long-term plans for the aviation sector include efforts to design and manufacture planes in India. On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez inaugurated the TATA Aircraft Complex in Vadodara to manufacture C-295 aircraft.
Modi said that this will make way for a Made in India civil aircraft and that the factory will play a key role in the design and manufacture of civi