Components to complete aircraft, Prabhu wants global biggies to ‘Make in India’

In a series of tweets, with hashtag #SaafNiyatSahiVikas (Clean intent, right development), Prabhu also said his ministry is working on a blueprint for the domestic production of aircraft under the government’s ‘Make in India’ programme. 

Prabhu appealed to Airbus and Boeing Co to participate in the push as part of the government’s flagship Make In India campaign, highlighting the growth potential of the booming market, which has been adding passengers and cutting fares. 

A booming aviation market and economy needs more than 1,000 passenger planes and “many more” cargo planes, Prabhu, who last week visited an Airbus facility in Toulouse in France, wrote in the Twitter post.

Airbus said last year it expected Indian carriers to order 1,750 aircraft over 20 years. Boeing predicted up to 2,100 planes would be sold in the same period.

The Civil aviation minister also said the average airfares dropped by 18 per cent in 2017, while the number of passengers flown by the domestic carriers recorded a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 per cent in FY18 over FY14. “Average airfares fell by 18% in 2017 over average air fare in 2015, making air travel more affordable for everyone,” he said in a tweet.

“Indian scheduled airlines carried more than 12 cr domestic passengers during FY18 as against 6.1 cr in FY14, recording growth of 19% CAGR. Strategic policies resulting in enabling more Indians to fly than ever before,” another tweet said.

The Modi government had launched the slogan ‘Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas’ on its fourth anniversary on May 26, listing out its various achievements in a range of areas. Significantly, the country registered a double-digit growth in air passenger traffic for the 44th consecutive month at 26.05 per cent in April, on the back of low airfares and capacity addition by domestic airlines.

Over the last two years, airfares have remained flat, while fuel prices have doubled, Jet Airways chief executive officer Vinay Dube had recently said.

The civil aviation minister in another tweet said that, “Comprehensive aviation capacity expansion program NABH NIRMAN has been envisaged to cater to one billion air passengers over the next decade.”

Under NABH (NextGen Airports for Bharat) Nirman initiative, announced in the 2018-19 Union budget, the government plans to expand airport capacity by more than five times to handle a billion trips a year.

“India’s booming aviation & economy nerds> 1000 passenger & many more cargo planes. Preparing roadmap under #makeinIndia to eventually manufacture Aircrafts, beginning with components, creating eco system,part of global supply chain. Create jobs, SMEs. Appeal @Airbus @Boeing participate,” Prabhu tweeted further.