Nearly Rs 25,000 cr to be spent on development of civil aviation sector in next 4-5 years: Centre

New Delhi [India], August 4 : Nearly Rs 25,000 crores will be spent on the growth and development of the Civil Aviation sector in the next 4-5 years, the Central government informed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
In a written reply in the upper house, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Vijay Kumar Singh stated that the government has taken several measures for reforms in the Civil Aviation sector of the country by providing top-class infrastructure and facilities.
"AAI has taken up development programme to spend around Rs 25,000 crores in next 4-5 years for expansion and modification of existing terminals, new terminals, expansion or strengthening of existing runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS), control towers, technical blocks, etc. to meet the expected growth in the aviation sector," said the minister.
Singh further informed that the government has accorded 'in-principle' approval for setting up 21 Greenfield Airports across the country.
So far, six Greenfield Airports namely Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh and Kalaburagi in Karnataka have been operationalised, he said.
The minister stated that the government is promoting private investments in existing and new airports through the public-private partnership (PPP) and under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN), as of July 27, 2021, 359 routes have commenced connecting 59 unserved and underserved airports, including 2 water aerodromes and 5 heliports.