Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said India has set another landmark in the civil aviation sector, as he hailed a deal signed between IndiGo and airplane manufacturer Airbus.
In one of the largest-ever aircraft purchases by an airline, IndiGo on Monday announced placing a firm order to buy 500 narrow-body planes from Airbus.
"This landmark transaction comes very close on the heels of the Air India order of 470 aircraft -- 250 with Airbus and 220 with Boeing. India has set another landmark with this largest-ever recorded order by a carrier with any aircraft manufacturer in the world," Scindia said.
The civil aviation minister said investment in the sector has a "multiplier effect" and every dollar invested yields results that are three times higher in terms of growth.
"What is also important to understand is the multiplier effect of civil aviation, the direct and indirect multiplier effect, every dollar invested in civil aviation yields 3.1 dollars in terms of new growth as well as employment multiplier. Every direct job in civil aviation results in 6.1 jobs in the sector," he said.
"Not only is the airline sector growing from a fleet size of 400 in 2014, we have witnessed a 75-per cent growth. We have witnessed the birth of many countrywide carriers, regional carriers and many others. But we have also witnessed orders being placed by India's foremost carriers, which are greater than the size of India's total fleet," Scindia said.
"While we look at expanding the fleet over the next seven to 10 years, we are also looking at expanding our infrastructure footprints," he added.
The multi-billion-dollar IndiGo-Airbus deal comes less than five months after Air India placed orders for 470 aircraft with Airbus and Boeing.
The IndiGo order is the largest-ever aircraft order placed by any airline with Airbus.
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