India's air passenger traffic is expected to grow six-fold to 1.1 billion and the number of operational airports increases to around 200 in 2040, according to Ministry of Civil Aviation's vision document released on Tuesday (15).
India was the seventh largest aviation market with 187 million passengers -- travelling to, from and within India -- in the financial year 2017-18.
The Vision 2040 for the Civil Aviation Industry in India document released at a summit in Mumbai also said that the country would have its own aircraft leasing industry, with tax structure and repossession processes being "equally or more attractive than those in leading global jurisdictions".
"The passenger traffic is expected to grow six-fold to around 1.1 billion. India has one of the largest aircraft order books currently with pending deliveries of over 1,000 aircraft," the document from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said.
The fleet of commercial planes is likely to rise to 2,359 in March 2040 from 622 in March 2018.
"India may have around 190-200 operational airports in 2040. Its top 31 cities may have two airports, and the cities of Delhi and Mumbai three each.
"The incremental land requirement is expected to be around 1,50,000 acre and the capital investment (not including the cost of acquiring land) is expected to be around USD 40-50 billion," the document said.
As per the document, the government may consider establishing a Nabh Nirman Fund (NNF) with a starting corpus of around USD two billion to support low traffic airports in their initial phases.
The concept of land pooling may be used to keep land acquisition costs low and to provide landowners with high value developed plots in the vicinity of the airport, it added.
PTI
Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in northwest of London, in July 2024. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Crossbow murderer found guilty of raping ex-girlfriend
A 26-YEAR-OLD man who murdered three women in a crossbow and stabbing attack has been found guilty of raping one of them, his ex-girlfriend, a British court ruled on Thursday.
Kyle Clifford had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of BBC sports commentator John Hunt’s wife and two daughters at their home in Bushey, northwest of London, in July 2024.
The attack led to a manhunt before Clifford was found injured hours later in a north London cemetery.
A jury at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday convicted Clifford of raping 25-year-old Louise Hunt before killing her.
His sentencing for all the crimes is scheduled for Tuesday.
Clifford had admitted to murdering Carol Hunt, 61, and her daughters Louise and Hannah, 28. He had also pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and possessing offensive weapons but denied raping Louise.
During the trial, the court heard that after killing Carol Hunt, Clifford waited for an hour before attacking Louise, tying her up, raping her, and then killing her with a crossbow. He later killed Hannah when she returned home from work.
The prosecution described Clifford, a former soldier, as committing a "violent, sexual act of spite" and said he was "enraged" after Louise ended their 18-month relationship. They told the court that he had "carefully planned" the attack.
Less than 24 hours before the killings, Clifford had searched for a podcast by social media influencer Andrew Tate, according to the prosecution. They argued that the murders were driven by the "violent misogyny promoted" by Tate.
Justice Joel Bennathan called Clifford’s crimes "dreadful" and "almost unspeakable".
(With inputs from AFP)