In Indian aerospace, civil aviation is the fastest growing segment in terms of passenger growth, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister for Civil Aviation said at the ongoing Aero India 2017 in Bengaluru on Tuesday (February 14). The Indian civil aviation industry is currently the 9th largest in the world and is expected to be the 3rd largest by 2022.
The premier air show held at Air Force Station, Yelahanka from 14-18 February is the largest commercial and military air show in Asia and the second largest in the world. More than 700 global and Indian companies participated in this year’s show.
Raju said that the government is focussing on the inactive and under-utilised airports in India to be operational soon.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that defence public sector undertakings (PSUs) are being revitalised and the government is taking initiatives for ease of doing business in the country. “We wish to see investments from foreign OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and see more partnerships,” he said.
Parrikar said the government has already liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) in this sector to encourage foreign investments. He also announced the setting up of a Defence Innovation Fund which would be open to both Indian and foreign industries and will especially focus on startups.
BW Reporters
Ayushman is an award-winning business and tech journalist based in Bangalore, with diverse experience in journalism across newspaper, magazine and news wire. He is the recipient of the 15th annual Polestar Award in Jury's category for excellence in journalism in 2013. He is also an NSE-certified capital market professional (NCCMP) and driven by his interest, he has also attended hands-on workshops on cloud computing to stay on top of technology journalism
