India to spend $8-$10b in four years

The Indian government is spending $8 billion to $10 billion over the next four years in upgrading and building airports in six key cities and 35 others, said a top official yesterday.

India's government- owned national and domestic airlines Air India and Indian Airlines will also go public by issuing IPOs early next year, said Praful Patel, the Indian minister for civil aviation.

Patel told reporters that the current restrictions will remain in place. "We want the country to be connected from within and the private airlines have to show consistency for five consecutive years. Then the reward is to fly overseas," said Patel.

The minister told reporters at the airshow that airports in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi will be upgraded to receive the largest and latest aircraft. Two new airports will be built at greenfield sites in Bangalore and Hyderabad, he said.

All this will be achieved by 2010, he added.

Indian aviation industry both passenger and cargo has witnessed a year on year double digit growth topping 25 per cent last year and reaching 30 per cent this year, said Patel.

In a population of 1.1 billion just about seven million form the base of flyers. The number of people flying in a year equals the numbers who travel by train daily, he said.

Therefore there is scope for growth with the emerging economic clout of the expanding Indian middle class, said Patel.

India and China are the biggest growth markets for airlines and for aircraft manufacturers, he said.