Aviation sector to attract $110bn investment

New Delhi, July 22: The civil aviation sector in the country is likely to attract an investment of 110 billion dollars by 2020 for purchasing new aircraft and building airport infrastructure.

''Out of the total investment, 80 billion dollars would be required for the purchase of new aircraft and 30 billion dollars for building up airports' infrastructure,'' Joint Secretary to Ministry of Civil Aviation R K Singh said in a seminar.

In a bid to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) in civil aviation industry, it is proposed to further liberalise the FDI policy particularly in areas of charters, cargo, maintenance and repair operations, flying training and ground handling, he added.

''With the steady induction of new aircrafts, India has the potential to become a regional maintenance hub. Companies like Boeing and Airbus have already committed an investment of 100 million dollars each for this purpose,'' he said.

If India's current economic growth rates were sustained, it would become a trillion-dollar economy by 2009 and also emerge as the world's third largest economy by 2025.

According to industry chamber PHDCCI, the new civil aviation policy that is expected to be announced some time in 2007 should provide a longer term vision, beyond 2020 for development of civil aviation infrastructure.

UNI