India’s public as well as private airport developers and operators have achieved 91% of their combined capital expenditure target set for the period between 2019-20 and 2024-25, the Economic Survey for 2024-25, tabled in the Parliament on Friday stated.
The capital expenditure to be undertaken by the Airports Authority of India and private sector operators running major airports in the country on public-private partnership mode is at Rs. 91,000 crore for the five-year period.
“About 91 per cent of this (capex target) has been achieved by November 2024,” the Economic Survey stated. In the current year, India will see the operationalisation of two major greenfield airports, Noida International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport.
Indian airports’ combined cargo handling capacity has reached 8 million metric tonnes in 2023-24, according to the survey.
The survey also highlighted the increase in the operational routes and airports under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) also known as UDAN. According to the survey, 88 airports and 619 air routes were operational under RCS as of December 2024.
The scheme was launched in October 2016 with an aim to promote regional air connectivity from unserved and underserved airports in the country and make air travel more affordable to the masses. It provides incentives such as viability gap funding to airlines through a bidding process.