NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Wednesday said 50 new airports, helipads and aerodromes will be built to improve regional connectivity. This announcement came a day after the President Droupadi Murmu said in her first speech in Parliament that India is the third largest civil aviation market. She also said that number of airports has risen from 74 in 2014 to 147 at present.
There is great potential in civil aviation. “The civil aviation sector in India has great potential owing to growing demand from the middle class, growth in population and tourism, higher disposable incomes, favourable demographics, and greater penetration of aviation infrastructure,” the economic survey had highlighted.
The current financial year has further shown a rebound, with both passenger and cargo movement close to the pre-COVID-19 levels. The total number of passengers carried in December 2022 stood at 150.1 lakh, which was 106.4 per cent of the pre-Covid level.
Over the past few years, the government has been taking various initiatives, especially the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, to boost the regional air connectivity. Besides, she said that 100 critical transport infrastructure projects, for last and first mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertiliser, and food grains sectors have been identified.