Civil aviation ministry to get Rs 2,300 cr budgetary allocation for 2024-25

The budgetary allocation for the civil aviation ministry has come down to Rs 2,300 crore for the next financial year.

For the ministry, the allocation in the revised budgetary estimate for the current fiscal ending March 2024 stood at Rs 2,922.12 crore.

According to the documents of the interim Budget for 2024-25, the ministry will get an allocation of Rs 2,300 crore, including the revenue component of Rs 2,257.79 crore.

Out of the total amount, Air India Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL) will get Rs 1,158.79 crore in the next fiscal, higher than Rs 713.92 crore allocated for 2023-24.

The provision is kept for servicing of loans transferred to AIAHL as a result of financial restructuring of Air India, as per the Budget document.

AIAHL is a special purpose vehicle formed by the government that holds various assets of the national carrier Air India.

The allocation for Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Drone and Drone Component has been hiked to Rs 57 crore for 2024-25, from Rs 33 crore in the current fiscal.

According to the Budget document, the money earmarked for the regulators -- DGCA and BCAS -- have been reduced for 2024-25.

The budgetary allocation for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be Rs 302.64 crore and for the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the amount is Rs 89 crore.

In the revised Budget estimate for 2023-24, the allocation for DGCA and BCAS is Rs 397.55 crore and Rs 100.02 crore, respectively.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim Budget on Thursday and it is also the last Budget of the Modi government before the general polls.