India Inc welcomes new draft civil aviation policy

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SME Times News Bureau | 11 Nov, 2014
India Inc. Monday welcomed the move by the government to formulate a draft civil aviation policy.

"The draft appears to be a step in the right direction. It talks of various ideas that have been discussed in the past. However, these will be beneficial only if formalized and implemented in a time bound manner," Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA), a body of general aviation, choppers and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) companies said in a statement.

"We welcome the move to develop Helicopter Aviation which will promote its greater use by industries to enable business. While we see a major thrust on remote connectivity in the draft, the role of small aircraft operators needs to be given due consideration."

On Monday, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju presented the draft civil aviation policy.

"Under the new draft policy which will be under stake-holders' consideration for their view for the next 3-6 weeks, we have decided to list the AAI and Pawan Hans," Raju told IANS on the sidelines of the function here to present the draft civil aviation policy.

"This is no compulsion to list any of the two entities to mop up funds or something. Both the companies have been doing extremely well with AAI giving dividends back to the government for the last couple of years."

The new civil aviation policy is the first for the country. It has taken many years to formulate the policy, as the industry and stake-holders have been seeking a definitive policy in the sector for years.

The policy is now expected to be deliberated upon during the next 3-6 weeks before being finally adopted between January and March this fiscal year.