India’s civil aviation industry is moving from nascency towards growth and progressing rapidly in the aircraft manufacturing sector, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told Lok Sabha on Thursday.
In response to a question by Trinamool Congress member Sougata Ray, Scindia also detailed steps taken by the government to develop domestic manufacturing of aircraft and to increase the number of airports from 138 to 220 in the next four to five years with the aim of bolstering aviation infrastructure.
“Civil aviation does not just consist of airline operations and airport operations, but also a whole ecosystem must develop. In order for that ecosystem to develop, the industry must go from nascency towards growth phase, which is where we are going,” Scindia said during Question Hour.
He said Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) produced 80 AVRO planes, which are 36-seater aircraft, for commuter operations and the 19 seater Hindustan 228-201 aircraft to give a new impetus to the regional connectivity scheme.
The minister said a joint venture of Boeing and Tata called Tata Boeing AeroSpace Limited was manufacturing Apache fuselages in India for domestic operations and export. “India has advanced tremendously over the last three or four years towards manufacturing full aircraft,” he said.
Scindia said two Dornier 228 aircraft were already being manufactured in India for Alliance Air. “Under Make in India, today we are manufacturing the Indian version of Dornier 228 which is called the Hindustan 228 and six civil aircraft are under production with our internal funding of HAL,” he said. “We are also producing 19-seater light transport aircraft within India with CSR to give a new impetus to regional transport. The ALH-Dhruv (advanced light helicopter) is also being produced by HAL,” the minister added.
{{/usCountry}}Scindia said two Dornier 228 aircraft were already being manufactured in India for Alliance Air. “Under Make in India, today we are manufacturing the Indian version of Dornier 228 which is called the Hindustan 228 and six civil aircraft are under production with our internal funding of HAL,” he said. “We are also producing 19-seater light transport aircraft within India with CSR to give a new impetus to regional transport. The ALH-Dhruv (advanced light helicopter) is also being produced by HAL,” the minister added.
{{/usCountry}}In a written reply to Ray, the minister said that the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) developed an experimental version of SARAS, a multi-role seater civilian aircraft.
Specifying the government’s measures to strengthen the ecosystem for aircraft leasing and financing in India, Scindia said in a written reply that under International Financial Services Centres Authority Act 2019, the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) was established on April 27, 2020. ‘New tax regime was introduced from April 2020 to make Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) inapplicable to domestic companies. Exemption has been provided from corporate tax for a block period of 10 years within the first 15 years for leasing units,” he added.