Aviation Sector Contributing to 0.5 Percent of GDP

New Delhi: Terming the aviation sector as the 'real World Wide Web', a study has said it is currently contributing 33,000 crore or 0.5 percent of India's GDP and supporting 1.7 million jobs in the country, besides creating much-needed critical assets.

The study, conducted by Oxford Economics for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently, says aviation not only provided significant economic benefits to the Indian economy and the citizens, but also critical assets on which modern globalized businesses depend.

Noting that aviation contributed 87,500 crore as taxes and social security, it said, "This contribution is likely to increase further, as the sector recovers following a number of difficult years where many firms suffered losses."

The study to measure the sector's economic footprint in India estimated that a further Rs 16,900 crore worth of government revenue was raised via taxation through indirect and induced channels. But this does not include the domestic aviation fuel taxes which are estimated to be in the range of 1,500-2,000 crore, it said.

The sector also contributed 14,700 crore through its direct output and 10,700 crore indirectly through the supply chain. In addition, it contributed another 58,200 crore in "catalytic" benefits through tourism, which raised its overall contribution to 91,200 crore or 1.5 percent of GDP, the leading economic forecasting consultancy, floated as a joint venture by Oxford University, said.

The study was jointly released by Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi and IATA DG and CEO Tony Tyler recently.