Mumbai: The government is transforming the aviation sector and focusing on providing connectivity and making air travel affordable, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.
"Our aviation sector is growing tremendously. This makes quality infrastructure in the aviation sector important. Our government brought an aviation policy that is transforming the sector," he said.
"Aviation will also boost the tourism sector in the country," Modi said at an event in Navi Mumbai after performing the groundbreaking ceremony of Navi Mumbai International Airport and dedicating the 4th container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to the nation.
"Around 450 aircraft are now operational in India, including those owned privately. This is the figure since Independence. However, just within last one year, there have been orders for 900 new planes," Modi said.
"Aviation sector worldwide is moving very fast... we cannot afford to lag. Since 70 years, there was no aviation policy in India, which we have implemented recently to provide all-round connectivity to the remotest corners of India at affordable rates," Modi said at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Rs 16,000 crore Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) and inauguration of the country's largest container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), built at a cost of Rs 4,719 crore.
"We want people wearing 'hawai-chappal' to be able to fly in a 'hawai-jahaz'... the aviation sector has huge potential of giving over three-and-half times returns as from investment of Rs 100, we can get Rs 350 in a period of time by boosting trade and commerce, movement of people, tourism and all-round development," he said.
Stressing the need for top infrastructure projects, he rued that there were many projects which were launched or inaugurated and then abandoned and existed merely on paper since over two-three decades but added he initiated the Pragati scheme by which all such projects were brought out of files, discussed, revived and many are on the path of implementation across India.
India's first Greenfield Airport project, NMIA will be the second international aviation hub for Mumbai, presently served by the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, which has almost achieved saturation point. It is being constructed by the GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd (GVKPIL) in collaboration with the City & Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal authority of Maharashtra to oversee the project implementation.