If one were to ask people of the lower middle class as to which dream of theirs is the most achievable one, it has to be – travelling in an aeroplane. Most people in the interior parts of Bharat too dream of being able to travel by air. It is no longer a desire which will take years to achieve. This is thanks to the drop in the charges of plane tickets on one hand, and increase in the number of operational airports on the other. The number of operational passengers and cargo handling airports has increased from 77 airports to 101 airports, since Modi Govt. took over. Even Assam will have an International Airport as per UDAN III.
The Aviation Sector in Bharat has grown by 20%. Keeping this in mind, the Government has planned to increase the number of airports by another 101. Under UDAN – IV (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) 250 new locations are being connected. This will encompass every region all over Bharat with the objective of “letting the common citizen of the country fly”, aimed at making air travel affordable and widespread, to boost inclusive national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure development. This Government has a Vision for 2040 – one which will envision that Bharat will become a developed Nation for sure.
As per an estimate of Boeing, 2300 aircraft are required to be purchased in the next few years. All these years, Bharat never manufactured its own aircraft. We have always purchased from abroad. But this may soon change. This Government now aims to Make in India these aircraft, to keep up with the demand, and to save on precious foreign exchange. Maintenance, Repairs and Operations of aircraft too are being planned in Bharat. Also, drones will be manufactured in Bharat soon & policies and regulations are being put in place. Waterdromes for islands and use of Sea Planes for islands which cannot be connected by sky are also being planned. A very big development is the partnership between State and Central Government, as joint ventures, to develop airports.
The Aviation Policy would be incomplete without the new Air Cargo Policy and the Agriculture Export Policy as its supplementary. A new department of Logistics too has been added by the Modi Government to handle the ever expanding logistics sector activities. The linking of Air Cargo to Agriculture Export itself is a brilliant move which will push agricultural exports to an estimated 100 Billion Dollars as per vision 2040.
Bharat aims to be a 5 Trillion Dollar economy in the near future. From this, Agriculture and Manufacturing will be 20% each and Services will be a whopping 60% of the economy. This means that the GDP of every region (not just the cities) has to grow by 3 – 5% each, to achieve such a figure. It also means that connectivity, communication, ease of business, linking and consultation between Ministries, all have to improve substantially. One can only imagine the increase in jobs in various sectors throughout this country. This Government means business and Narendra Modi and his team are known to be Finisher of Projects. Exciting times ahead ….
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