Be Our Co-pilots: Modi's Invitation to Aviation Industry to Invest in India
Modi said very few countries can offer such large-scale opportunities in the aviation industry as India does which also comes with political stability, and technological ambitions.
Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited global investors to become part of India’s burgeoning aviation sector, calling on them to become ‘co-pilots’ in the growth story of Indian aviation, and take full advantage of the golden opportunities the country has on offer in the sector.
In his video address to Wings India 2026 aviation summit, Modi said very few countries can offer such large-scale opportunities in the aviation industry as India does which also comes with political stability, and technological ambitions.
Among the many strides India is making in aviation is the country’s progress towards becoming a major international air travel and air cargo hub. Modi also said that India significant work was on in the country on the sustainable aviation fuel front, and added that “in the next few years, India is poised to become a major producer and exporter of green aviation fuel.”
India, he said, witnessed a historic transformation in the sector over the past decade becoming the third biggest domestic air travel market and cited how airlines operating in India ordered 1,500 aircraft in the past few years. Air travel, he said, was no longer and ‘exclusive club’ in India and this rapid growth is because of the government’s long-term vision for the sector. “Our mission is to ensure that every Indian citizen can easily travel by air, and that is why we have connected Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with airports. In 2014, there were 70 airports in India, today, now there are more than 160 with the country building, in just one decade, more than twice the number of airports,” he said.
The Government of India’s UDAN scheme for affordable air travel has seen approximately 1.5 crore passengers travel on routes that didn’t even exist before. And making the sector yet another new direction is the progress being made in electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, designed and manufactured in India. These, Modi said, “will give a new direction to the entire aviation sector. This technology can significantly reduce our travel time.”
India, he said, also needs to strengthen its path of self-reliance, which will help companies coming to invest. The country is placing great emphasis on aircraft design, manufacturing, and the aircraft MRO ecosystem. India is already a major manufacturer and supplier of aircraft parts. “We are starting to manufacture military and transport aircraft in the country. India is also moving forward in the direction of civil aircraft manufacturing, and all of you investors know that India has many advantages. India’s geographic position in global air corridors, our unmatched domestic feeder network and the future expansion of our long-haul fleets are our greatest strengths,” Modi said.
Urging all countries, industry leaders, and innovators to take “full advantage of this golden opportunity,” Modi called on them to become long-term partners and contribute to the growth of the world’s aviation sector.