Right time to have symposia relating to skill-building: Minister

With exponential growth in the country's civil aviation industry, the government has supported the idea to organise symposiums relating to skill-building in the sector.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju supported the idea of organising skill-based symposiums as a means to educate the youth.

The minister spoke while inaugurating the fourth edition of the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) regional aviation training symposium on Tuesday.

"This is the right time for organising such symposiums relating to skill building that might enable India very soon to attain the capability of supplying workforce to the entire world," Raju said.

"India is a fertile land for developing talents and has a rich tradition of supplying work-force to the many parts of the world. Central government of India has taken the initiative to develop skills through various skill development councils including civil aviation."

At the same event, the Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said that the presence of adequate number of qualified aviation personnel is critical to meet the rising demand for the skilled aviation personnel.

"The world would be handling six billion passengers and 60 million annual flights by the year 2030, while the Indian Aviation sector is pegged to double its size by then," Choubey said.

The four day event starting from Nov 17-20 is being hosted by GMR Aviation Academy (AA) which is the aviation skills development arm of GMR Group. The event was attended by 200 delegates from nearly 40 countries.