India A Land Of Emerging Opportunities: Ajit Singh


Washington: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has said that India is a land of emerging opportunities and the aviation scenario in the country is fast changing and poised for breaking boundaries and scaling new heights.

Considering the growth prospects of air traffic, potential for large scale acquisition of aircrafts by the airlines and substantial investment projections, Indian civil aviation market offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. industries to invest in India, Singh said in his address to the India-U.S. Aviation Summit.

"Furthermore, the gap between potential and current air travel penetration which is currently 0.04 airstrips per capita per annum, highlights the huge potential for the air traffic growth in India, considering a relatively higher trajectory of economic growth coupled with necessary Government support," he said in his address to the three-day meeting which kicked-off in Washington.

Noting that over the past decade, civil aviation in India has been scripting a major success story, Singh said the government in tune with general policy of liberalisation has brought in positive initiatives to attract foreign direct investment and rope in private investments that have helped in releasing the latent potential of this sector and make it a key player in the nation's economic growth.

One of the most important initiatives in this direction is to allow 49 percent Foreign Direct Investment by foreign airlines in Indian carriers.

Source: PTI