NEW DELHI: India is expected to witness a capital expenditure (CAPEX) of nearly 970 billion rupees on airports in the next five years, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday.
This capital expenditure plan includes around 335 billion rupees from the stateowned Airports Authority of India on both brown-field and green-field projects. "Close to about 42 airports on the brownfield side are being upgraded at a capex of almost 30,000 crores (300 billion rupees).
We are also building three new greenfield projects (Hollongi, Dholera and Hirasar) another 3,500 crores (35 billion rupees)," Scindia said. For the private sector, the minister said the expansion of seven airports is likely to see a capital expenditure of about 340 billion rupees, while four new green field projects could see close to about 310 billion rupees in expenditure.
India had 144 million domestic air travellers and 60 million international travellers in the pre-pandemic period. The minister forecasts the passenger traffic to grow to 400 million in the next 5-7 years. The expansion of airports and the growth in passenger traffic are expected to be supported by a 15% per annum growth in the country's fleet capacity. The current fleet size of around 700 aircraft is likely to increase to 1,200-1,500 aircraft soon, the minister added.
Air Passenger volume likely to grow upto 400 million: Scindia
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