Govt working on domestic aircraft manufacturing policy: Suresh Prabhu

Government is working on a blueprint for the domestic manufacturing of aircraft and also looking at aircraft financing from within the country.

Talking to reporters at the Global Aviation Summit 2019 in Mumbai on Tuesday, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said, the country needs 2,300 new aircraft to meet the future air travel demand. He said, the government would like to join hands with top players from across the globe.

Mr Prabhu emphasised on carrying out of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) work domestically. He said, if the MRO work is not carried out in the country then the government will be loosing out lot of money, besides job opportunities.

The Minister said, domestic passenger traffic has been growing at 17 to 18 per cent, adding the government is also



now focusing on cargo and has for the first time unveiled a policy to boost the growth in the segment.

He also said, the government has recently launched a drone policy and would like to make sure that drone becomes one of the preferred use for many sectors such as agriculture and disaster management, among others.

The two-day summit is the first-of-its-kind event in the world with participation from more than 86 countries. With the theme 'Flying for all-especially the next 6 Billion', the summit has been organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in association with FICCI.

It offers stakeholders an opportunity to explore, deliberate and understand how technology-driven innovations will change air travel in the decades to come.