Monday, February 04, 2019

International aviation hubs should be created in India: Ajay Singh

Ajay Singh, chairman, SpiceJet, during an interview with Swati Khandelwal of Zee Business, spoke about his view on global investment in India and the International Monetary Fund growth forecast. Edited Excerpts:

There is a pitch for investment in India, but there is a need for a stable policy for it. What is your view on it?
The Indian government has done a commendable and unique job in the past five years. This is something to be proud of. I feel India has emerged as a bright and shining spot in the world when the world is facing certain problems like the tension between the US and China or Brexit in the UK, among others.

But are we leveraging on the opportunity?
We should leverage more on the opportunity. Under such situations, we must move out and tell the world about the kind of changes that India has seen in the last five years like the passage of goods and services tax (GST) legislation and implementation of the bankruptcy law. The changes also include the opening of bank accounts under the Jan Dhan scheme, unique identity (UID) for every citizen, electrification of villages, toilets, health policies, road development at a fast pace and, of course, the Swachh Bharat programme.

IMF, in its recent forecast, said India will grow by 7.3% in this fiscal. Do we have the potential to achieve the number?
I think, it is time we should look beyond 7.5-8% levels, and the next government should take the growth rate to at least 10%. In fact, we should have a target to grow India by 10% for the next 10 years.

Do you feel that the excise duty on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will be reduced?
ATF should be brought under the ambit of GST and the Union government is trying to do so. But, everyone knows that it can happen only if a consensus is reached at the GST Council. The majority of the states are ready for it except a few, which are opposing the proposal. I think we will have to reach them and lobby for the purpose. In addition, the sector should be strengthened by creating international hubs in the country such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, instead of exporting it. Currently, India's international hubs are present in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Bangkok. This also means that Indian airlines should have the ability to fly directly to Europe, America and other places and the government should help us on that front.
04/02/19 Swati Khandelwal/DNA
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