India offers an excellent opportunity for investment in aviation sector: PM Modi

Modi said travel is no longer confined to cities on earth, with increasing ambitions to commercialise space flights and interplanetary journeys, integrating them into civil aviation.

New Delhi: Highlighting India’s growth in the aviation sector and its open and supportive policy ecosystem, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the country provides a "significant" investment opportunity for major international aviation companies.

Addressing the 81st Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the plenary session of World Air Transport Summit (WATS), he said underscored India's role in the global aviation ecosystem, not only as a vast market but also as a symbol of policy leadership, innovation, and inclusive development.

He said travel is no longer confined to cities on earth, with increasing ambitions to commercialise space flights and interplanetary journeys, integrating them into civil aviation. Though it will take time, he said, such developments highlight aviation’s future as a center of transformation and innovation, for which India is fully prepared.

Emphasising that India is emerging as a leading force in the Global Space-Aviation convergence, Modi said, "today, India is emerging as a global leader in space-aviation convergence."

He also said, "the new Indian Aircraft Act aligns aviation laws with global best practices, ensuring a streamlined regulatory framework, ease of compliance, and a simplified tax structure which presents a significant investment opportunity for major international aviation companies."

Underlining that consistent reforms have been a key driver of India's rapidly expanding aviation sector, he also said the country aims to increase the size of the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) segment to USD 4 billion by 2030.

"India is ready for big investments in the civil aviation sector...We want the world to see India not just as an aviation market but also as a value chain leader...Our direction is right, our speed is right...So, we are confident that we will continue to move forward rapidly," he said, adding that the success of the UDAN scheme is a golden chapter in Indian civil aviation.

The growth in the aviation sector translates to new flights, new jobs, and new possibilities, noting that the industry is creating expanding opportunities for pilots, crew members, engineers, and ground staff, he said.

Referring to India's "remarkable" transformation in civil aviation over the past years, he said the country has become the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world. He said the UDAN scheme is a "golden chapter" in Indian civil aviation history.

Modi said the three foundational pillars driving India’s aviation sector were a "vast market", a "strong demographic and talent pool" and an "open and supportive policy ecosystem" and with these strengths, India is poised to elevate its aviation sector to "unprecedented heights".

Recalling that domestic airlines continue to achieve double-digit growth, with 240 million passengers flying annually surpassing the total population of most countries worldwide, Modi projected that by 2030, this number is expected to reach 500 million passengers. He also said 3.5 million metric tons of cargo are transported by air annually in India and this volume is set to increase to 10 million metric tons by the end of this decade.