Govt to work on designing, manufacturing planes in India, says Naidu

The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill 2024, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in August, includes provisions to regulate the design and manufacturing of aircraft, supporting the Aatmanirbhar initiative

The government will work towards designing and manufacturing aircraft in India with the help of the industry players, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday.

The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill 2024, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in August, includes provisions to regulate the design and manufacturing of aircraft, supporting the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

"We want to design and manufacture planes in India. We are taking help from HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) and NAL (National Aerospace Laboratories) and other industry partners we have.

"In the foreseeable future, we want to also have a situation where we manufacture planes not for domestic demand only but also for the demand of the entire world... we are going to move towards it," the minister said.

State-owned HAL is already into manufacturing small civilian planes but on a smaller scale.

India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets and Indian carriers have more than 1,200 planes on order.

The country is a key market for aircraft manufacturers - Boeing and Airbus.

Last month, Naidu said the government will set up a special purpose vehicle to push ahead with plans to start manufacturing commercial aircraft in India.