THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A senior bureaucrat said: “It’ll also help us use our youth’s technical knowledge to boost our economy as well as create skilled employment in the state itself. It’s imperative for a state like Kerala to tap the potential of newer industries like aerospace manufacturing ecosystem,” said the bureaucrat.
Mahindra Aerospace has already been asked to explore the possibility of setting up an aircraft manufacturing unit in the state and also of starting smaller aircraft services to airports inside the state after developing Kasargod, Wayanad and Idukki airstrips on PPP mode. Given the fact the country requires at least 1,000 aeroplanes in a couple of years, developing an aeronautical industry in the state assumes greater significance.
The Cochin International Airport, the busiest in the state, has alone seen an aircraft movement of 68, 898 in the last fiscal. The three airports in the state together handled close to 17.5 million passengers in the last fiscal.