General election proves bonanza for helicopter operators

"The coming Lok Sabha elections to be held in April and May are seeing an unprecedented demand for helicopters from political parties," said G. Asok Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. Speaking to Business Today on the sidelines of the Civil Aviation 2014 event in Hyderabad, organized jointly by the ministry and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), he added: "All helicopters available for charter were booked six to seven months in advance."

The number of civil helicopters operating in the country has actually come down from around 290 helicopters registered in the country two years ago to around 250 today. Kumar attributed the decline in numbers to a slowdown in this business. Some players had even exited the business of late.

But with elections coming, the last six months or so have seen a huge upsurge in demand. An official at the Pawan Hans Helicopters stall at the event said, "This is Diwali time for helicopter operators." He expects the election season to provide additional revenues of nearly Rs 40 crore to the company from the helicopters it leases to political parties.

Kumar added that given this huge increase in demand, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had also issued strict guidelines on the use of helicopters during elections so that safety standards were not compromised.