India to spend $12 bn on airports in next two years as traffic picks up

India will spend around $12 billion on revamping airports over the next two years, withorders for hundreds of new aircraft to meet the growing travel demand which is adding pressure to the existing airport infrastructure of the country.

The goalof the world's fastest-growing aviation sector is to increase the number of airports from the present 148 to 220 by 2025, as per a Bloomberg report.

To that end, private builders will contribute roughly $9 billion, with the balance coming from the government-run Airports Authority of India. It entailsnew terminal construction, greenfield projects, and refurbishment of existing buildings, including old military airfields from the colonial era.

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With a growing customer base and an expanding economy that is on pace to surpass China's $3.2 trillion in size, India is making more of a globalstatement with this move. With Air India Ltd.'s announcement of the largest contract in commercial aviation history last month, the nation has already made its imprint in the industry.

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Jyotiraditya Scindia, the minister of civil aviation, opened the three-day CAPA India Aviation Summit on Monday by declaring that India aims to be a global leader in aviation. From 2022 through 2041, according to Boeing, passenger traffic in India would increase at a rate of roughly 7 per cent per year, compared to 4.9 per centin China.

“The growth in aviation infrastructure will bring a huge amount of economic upside and new airports will improve the quality of life for most people partly because of bad road infrastructure and slow trains in India,” said Jayant Mukhopadhaya, researcher at the International Council of Clean Transportation, who spoke to Bloomberg.

In addition to becoming a popular tourist and economic destination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to transform India into a top-tier connecting centre. His development plan includes using air as a mode of transportationto connect smaller communities.

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While IndiGo, the country's top airline, is anticipated to place a larger order, Air India, controlled by the country's largest conglomerate Tata Group, has ordered 470 aircraft.

India is making additional purchases in an effort to catch up to nations with larger aviation markets, like China.

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