In India the sky's the limit

Bangalore: With the Indian aviation industry predicted to experience spectacular growth in the coming decade, foreign aviation companies are lining up for a share in the multibillion-dollar deals. These are exciting times not only for the foreign aviation giants but also their Indian partners.
According to India's Civil Aviation Ministry, the industry is expected to grow at 25% per annum for the next 10 years. The number of domestic passengers, which currently stands at around 30 million per year, is expected to touch 182 million per year by 2020, while the country's airports will handle 400 million passengers annually.
Purchases of more airplanes, equipment and infrastructure are in the pipeline. For this "the civil-aviation sector will need investments worth [US]$120 billion. While two-thirds of the money will go towards aircraft purchases - the number of planes is expected to grow from the current 350 to 1,000 by 2020 - the remaining would go into upgrading aviation infrastructure," an official in the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
Foreign and Indian companies are eyeing the multibillion-dollar deals in the civil- and defense-aviation sectors. Indian players are hoping to partner with the aviation giants for a share in the cake. There are immense benefits to be had from partnerships, says retired Air Commodore J Varkey, secretary general of the Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI).
It is a nodal organization that has some 330 small, medium and large-scale private industries doing work in the aviation business. SIATI has been putting its members in touch with aviation companies and facilitating the partnering.
27/04/07 Sudha Ramachandran/Asia Times Online, Hong Kong

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Categories: General Aviation Apr 2007