Greater Noida: The government will soon approve the Cape Town Convention — an international agreement designed to make it more attractive for leasing companies to invest by duplicating repossession rights available in the United States when airlines default on lease payments — to make it easier to lease and buy aircraft in India, Vumlunmang Vualnam, secretary, ministry of civil aviation, said on Tuesday.
“.. work is in progress on the bill or the law to ratify the Cape Town convention..and our Union Cabinet has approved it. It will go to the Parliament, and we are hopeful that sooner rather than later, the Cape Town convention will have a legal lighting in India, it will become enforceable in India, greatly supporting the leasing and acquiring of aircraft for our companies here.. So the legal framework- the regulatory framework, is a good foundation that we are on,” he said at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) International Conference on Air Mobility.
Vualnam also mentioned that the Aircraft Act of 1934 was amended last year, effective January 1 this year, to address the modern needs of the aviation sector. “ The revised legislation, now titled Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, focuses on redefining regulatory frameworks and encouraging state-of-the-art design, manufacturing, and maintenance,” he said.
Speaking about the growth in Indian aviation Vualnam said that the number of air passengers has grown ten times in the last ten years, from 160 million to 380 million in 2024.
“Although the average person still takes very few flights, the rising demand for air travel across India suggests that the number of passengers could reach 3.8 billion by 2047, which aligns with India’s goal of becoming a Developed Nation,” he said
Vualnam added, “..Ten years ago, we had 160 million air passengers and reached 380 million throughput of air passengers last year…we are on a strong foundation of growth and by the year 2047 there will be 3500 million passengers.”
Speaking of the foundation of the airport infrastructure, Vualnam said that the number of airports in India have grown, and the government projects that by the time India reaches peaks in Bharat, 2047 India will have 350 airports climbing from the 159 that we have today.
Vualnam also discussed the rationale behind projecting growth in air travel in India. “Some may wonder why such numbers, but it’s really based on the air passengers that we estimate, he said, adding “Currently, people in India take only 0.13 air trips per person each year, which is much lower compared to other countries. Even a small increase, like doubling this number or reaching 0.5 trips per person per year, would lead to significant growth. This is because India has a large population, a growing middle class, and a strong, expanding economy.”
The country also has a solid foundation of airport infrastructure to support this growth, Vualnam said.
On drones and advanced air mobility, Vualnam said that, as of now, over 22,000 drones are registered, the majority of which are domestically manufactured by startups and MSMEs, hence creating significant business and employment opportunities.
He highlighted the success of the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones. “Over three years, the 23 shortlisted companies under the scheme achieved a combined turnover of Rs. 1,300 crore (for which Rs.120 crore were initially allocated), making it one of the most successful initiatives in the sector.”
“The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has also established six working groups tasked with drafting guidelines for vertiports, pilot licensing, airport management, and other aspects of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM),” Vualnam concluded.