Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Sector Needs Investment


Indian aviation sector needs an investment of over $120 billion by FY 17, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said."India's aviation sector will be the sunrise industry and it will require an investment of over $120 billion over the next 10 years," he said after inauguration of new terminal at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) here today."Of this amount, two-thirds is likely to be absorbed by aircraft purchases, and the remaining by infrastructure. The number of civilian aircraft in the country is also estimated to swell from 350 to 1,000 by 2020," Patel said.The number of domestic passengers would rise to 182 million per year by 2020 from 30 million now.Inaugurating new arrival terminal 1B at CSIA, Patel said "We have set the wheels in motion for upgrading airport infrastructure in India. The new terminal 1B has resulted in expansion of capacity to meet the growing domestic traffic."This would go long way in benefiting both passengers and airlines and is welcome improvement in city's infrastructure."The Mumbai airport is close to Dubai and Singapore airports in terms of handling of air traffic.

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