The Cetre was moving on a mission-mode for creation of modern and efficient infrastructure to cope with the huge growth projected for the civil aviation sector, Singh said after inaugurating the new International Terminal at the Thiruvanthapuram International Airport,built at a cost of Rs 289 crore.

" I am told that projected growth of India's aviation sector has a potential to absorb investment of over USD 120 billion with the attendant job creation for lakhs of people, directly and indirectly", he said.

The raod map laid down for moderinisation of airport to offer world class facilities had been implemented on a mission mode.

He said, in this regard, airpoerts at Delhi and Mumbaui were reestructured and modernised and two greenfield airports developed at Hyderabad and Bangalore through PPP route.

The air tansport in India had witnseed unprecedented grwoth in the last seven years with domestic air trafffic trippling and international traffic more than doubling.

If at one time aviation was seen as relevant only for affluent sections, it had now become a vital component of development of trade, industry and tourism, which, in turn, generate employment for all sections.

With the growth of low cost airtreavel, many passengers who used to travel only by trains now depended on flight services.

The growth of the sector was also important as the Indian economy was getting more and more integrated to international economy, he said.