Elevating Aviation

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Civil Aviation Minister seeks dip in VAT on aviation fuel and work hand-in-hand to boost the aviation sector.

Nisha Verma

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, recently addressed a conference of the civil aviation ministers from the states and the UnionTerritories, where he urged that all the stakeholders, particularly the states and the Union Territories, cooperate and support the strengthening of the civil aviation sector. Stressing that this industry contributes a lot to the economic development of the country, Scindia says, “The Civil Aviation sector has suffered the most due to the pandemic in the last year. With collective efforts, the industry can work to provide better passenger facilities and strive for the sector’s expansion and decentralisation.” Assuring the states and the union territoriess of full co-operation and support from the centre, the Minister said that the success of the states would also lead to our complete success.

Managing the crisis

He claimed that the whole-of-the-government approach had helped the Ministry tackle COVID-19 pandemic situation effectively and convert the crisis into an opportunity. “The domestic aviation sector suffered a lot during the period, and hence the government set up nine advisory groups, covering a wide array of sub-sectors like airlines, airports, MROs, flying training schools, cargo, ground handlers, and aircraft manufacturing, and their meetings have been yielding good results,” he adds.

Reduce the VAT on ATF

In his address, Scindia appealed to the states and the Union Territories to bring down VAT on aviation fuel as it contributes big time to the operational cost of flights. He thanked many of the Indian states for having cut the rates to a very large amount, which has helped gain more air traffic movement  in the country within a very short period of the reduction. The Minister claims, “The sector has a large cost-benefit ratio and huge employment potential.”

In addition to the that, Scindia called upon the states to facilitate new airports by swiftly handling land allotment issues. “The Ministry will be doubling the number of airports and taking the number to more than 200 by 2023-24,” he claims. The Minister stresses the need to bring up at least one heliport in each of the district, in collaboration with the states and the Union Territories. With regards to the seaplanes, he says that the states should provide capital support for this initiative, too.