Economic Survey 2022: Aviation sector recovery headed in the right direction

Steps taken by the Indian government will aid the recovery of the pandemic-hit Indian aviation sector, according to the survey.

Due to the increased rollout of COVID-19 vaccine and the easing of travel restrictions worldwide, the Indian aviation sector has started to rebound, according to the latest Economic Survey.

According to the report, in 2021, the Centre government took multiple initiatives aimed at boosting aviation. These included calibrated opening of the domestic sector as the first wave of the pandemic ebbed, as well as introducing air transport bubbles with specific countries.

In the Economic Survey released by the Centre, it said, "The domestic traffic in India has more than doubled from around 61 million in 2013-14 to around 137 million in 2019-20, registering a growth of over 14 percent per annum."

It has been reported in the Survey that in addition to privatising Air India, modernizing and expanding airports, and bolstering the regional connectivity scheme UDAN, the Centre in 2021 also took other steps to strengthen India's aviation sector.

In its report, UDAN refers to the Indian government's regional airport development program, which is a part of its regional connectivity scheme (RCS) for upgrading under-serviced air routes. "Till the launching of UDAN in 2016, India had 74 airports with scheduled operations," it noted.

However, under UDAN, the RCS-UDAN program has already conducted four rounds of bidding and identified 153 airports for RCS flights including 12 runways on water and 36 helipads, according to the report.

The report mentions, "During the last four years after commencement of the scheme, 948 valid awarded routes have been allotted to various airlines and out of which 389 RCS routes connecting 62 unserved and underserved airports (including six heliports and two water aerodromes) have been operational zed so far." 

In addition to these supportive measures, the report noted that India's aviation sector is in the process of gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2021, the government will liberalize drone rules, and PLI (production-linked incentive) arrangements will be released for drones in September 2021, it noted.

Due to their reach, versatility, and ease of use, drones can become an important propeller for growth in virtually all sectors of the economy. This includes India's remote and inaccessible areas.

It is reported that, "The policy reforms will therefore catalyse super-normal growth in the upcoming drone sector. A resurgence of the sector is foreseen as a result of swift measures adopted by the government and industry." 

"With the accelerated pace of vaccine roll-out and easing of travel restrictions globally, Indian aviation sector has started to rebound," it noted.

Although travel restrictions prevailed in October 2021, the total number of passengers carried reached 99.58 lakh, roughly 68 percent of the pre-Covid level of 146.25 lakh, the report indicated.

With inputs from PTI

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