The air sports segment has the potential to transform into a huge industry through exponential growth, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said.
“By our calculations air sports can grow ten times from the present Rs 80-100 crore to become an Rs 8,000-10,000 crore industry,” the minister said while launching the National Air Sports Policy (NASP) 2022 in New Delhi Tuesday.
“If the ramifications on areas such as tourism and manufacturing (of equipment) were added, the multiplier effect maybe three times the estimate,” he added.
Scindia said that India’s civil aviation industry had evolved from a phase of infancy to one of rapid growth. Therefore, attention needed to be paid to expanding the entire ecosystem of aviation-related services beyond airlines and airports. He added that several new initiatives launched by the government in areas such as drones, helicopters and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services were steps in that direction.
“The policy (NASP) is a result of great consultation. It is important for the country as we need to look at planting seeds of growth in emerging sectors. Given India’s geographic expanse, we can offer a wide variety of air sports. If you combine that with the demographic dividend of nearly 70 per cent of the population being below the age of 35, this is an industry that is right for the picking,” observed Scindia.
He said that the country can easily be positioned as the go-to destination for air sports during the harsh winter months in Europe.
NASP’s coverage comprises 11 air sports, including aerobatics; aeromodelling and model rocketry; amateur-built and experimental aircraft; ballooning; drones; gliding and powered gliding; hang gliding and powered hang gliding; parachuting; paragliding and paramotoring; powered aircraft; and rotorcraft.
The policy seeks to position the country among the top air sports nations by 2030 as well as provide a safe, affordable and sustainable air sports ecosystem. To this end, a four-tiered structure overseen by the Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) headed by the secretary of civil aviation is being set up. This will comprise ASFI, national associations for each air sport, state-level associations and district-level associations. The framework will be overseen by eight members of the government, 26 members from the private sector and three eminent individuals.
ASFI will ensure that standards set by the Switzerland-based world governing body for air sports, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) are closely followed.
The minister said the structure had been planned to ensure that the growth of air sports was largely led by the private sector. He also informed the ministry of civil aviation was in consultation with the ministry of finance to reduce goods and services tax (GST) on equipment for air sports.