Indian Aviation is Taking off to Bright Sky

The Indian aviation industry is finally taking off. If the reports by ICRA are anything to go by, the industry continues its purple patch with significant growth, thanks to the increase in domestic passenger traffic by approximately 14.5 percent year-on-year in January 2025, surpassing pre-COVID levels by 17.9 percent. Fueled by the UDAN scheme and the doubling of India’s airports in 10 years, India has become the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world.

The government is doing its best to leverage this favorable milieu. For instance, a few days ago, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, jointly with the Federation of Indian Chambers

of Commerce & Industry(FICCI) and with the support of the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA), organized the second "India Aircraft Leasing and Financing Summit" at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Civil Aviation of India, Ram Mohan Naidu, expressed his expectations, especially of the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). GIFT City is India's first operational smart city and International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), located in Gujarat, designed to be a global financial and IT hub. “GIFT City will give India’s aviation sector the further required confidence, commitment and collaboration to develop a competitive aircraft leasing hub,” Ram Mohan added. The ministry plans to build 50 more airports within the next five years. The government also has an ambitious mission to build 350 airports by 2047. Of these, 34 are expected to function as mega airports, handling two crore passengers annually. The aviation sector in India is definitely taking off to sunny days. This special issue is an endeavor to shed light on the leaders driving this growth.