India offers lot of opportunities to aviation sector, says DFS Secretary

New Delhi: India offers a lot of opportunities to the aviation industry, and the government has taken many initiatives to promote investment in the sector, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi said on Saturday.

Addressing a roundtable conference on the airport sector organised by IIFCL, Joshi said the launch of the ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik’ (UDAN) scheme has led to significant development of the sector in the past 7-8 years.

As a result, the number of airports has almost doubled from 74 in 2014 to 148 in 2023, giving a boost to regional connectivity.

The government has additionally given in-principle approval for setting up 21 greenfield airports across the country, he noted.

Further, he said, two big airports coming up in Noida and Navi Mumbai will add to the capacity of the airports in the country.

The aviation industry in India is the third-largest and fastest-growing in the world, expanding at a rate of about 10 per cent during the last decade, roughly 2.5 times the global average.