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Industry and Infrastructure 295

Civil Aviation

8.48 India has emerged as one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world. The domestic
traffic in India has more than doubled from around 61 million in 2013-14 to around 137 million
in 2019-20, registering a growth of over 14 percent per annum.

8.49 Government of India took various initiatives to boost the aviation sector which included
calibrated opening of the domestic sector as the first wave of the pandemic ebbed, introduction
of air transport bubbles or air travel arrangements with specific countries, disinvestment of
Air India (Box6), privatization and modernization/expansion of airports, boost to the regional
connectivity scheme - UDAN, incentivization of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MROs)
operations etc.

8.50 UDAN is a regional airport development program of the Government of India and part of
the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of upgrading underserviced air routes. Till launching
of UDAN in 2016, India had 74 airports having scheduled operations. But, within 4 years under
UDAN, four rounds of bidding under RCS-UDAN have taken place and 153 RCS airports
including 12 water aerodromes & 36 Helipads have been identified for operation of RCS flights.
During the last four years after commencement of the scheme, 948 valid awarded routes have
been allotted to various airlines and out of which 389 RCS routes connecting 62 unserved and
underserved airports (including 6 heliports & 02 water aerodromes) have been operationalized
so far.

8.51 With the help of these supportive measures, India's aviation sector is on the path of gradual
recovery from the turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Unmanned Aircraft
Systems (UAS), also known as drones, offer tremendous benefits to almost all sectors of the
economy and can become an important propeller for growth due to their reach, versatility, and
ease of use, especially in India’s remote and inaccessible areas. Thus, government has liberalized
drone rules 2021 on August 2021 and released PLI scheme for drones on 15 September 2021.
The policy reforms will therefore catalyze super-normal growth in the upcoming drone sector.
A resurgence of the sector is foreseen as a result of swift measures adopted by the government
and industry.

8.52 With the accelerated pace of vaccine roll-out and easing of travel restrictions globally,
Indian aviation sector has started to rebound. Despite the travel restrictions, the total passengers
carried in October, 2021 reached 99.58 lakhs which was near 68 percent of the pre-Covid level
(146.25 lakh) (figure31).