The Naresh Chandra Committee on civil aviation on Tuesday asked the government to make far reaching changes in policies governing the country's aviation sector including restructuring of Airports Authority of India, higher investments in improving aviation infrastructure and steps to lower the cost of operating airlines.
The committee, which submitted the second and final part of its report to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in New Delhi on Tuesday, said that as a part of its strategy to emerge as a global aviation hub India should make substantial investments in upgrading the country's aviation infrastructure to face major competition from China, Japan, South-East and West Asian nations.
Chandra, who headed the five-member committee, said the recent upswing in the civil aviation sector worldwide had led various governments and airlines to finalise plans for massive upgradation in their infrastructure and fleet. "India should also emulate a similar move," Chandra said.
The Committee also asked the government to withdraw the tax on the lease rental of aircraft from April, 2005. The Committee feels that this measure would act as a disincentive for plans to set up regional airlines to connect small towns.
The committee recommended that air connectivity to small towns, especially those of tourist importance, should be a major thrust area in the coming years. It has also asked the government to take steps to lower costs, encourage competition, eliminate the hassles at airports with the need of ensuring safety and security.
The committee also noted that while infrastructure at present was a limiting factor, lack of capacity to and from India was yet another major constraint for the growth of the sector.
In order to solve this condition, the committee asked the government to expedite liberalisation of air transport services, beginning with allowing domestic airlines to utilise the unused bilateral entitlements, especially on high-traffic destinations.
The government also said that it will frame the Civil Aviation Policy by the year end, taking inputs from the two reports submitted by the Naresh Chandra committee.
"Definitely, by the end of this year, the new civil aviation policy will be ready. With the Naresh Chandra committee submitting its entire report, we are now fully in a position to have the policy in place," Patel said after he was presented the second part of the report by Chandra.
Patel said the policy, to be prepared after thorough discussion with the panel members and others concerned, would be the basis for the growth of the entire sector. "We are now poised for a double-digit growth with more international and domestic travellers and airlines operating on our skies," Patel said.
The Naresh Chandra committee also recommended enacting of a Civil Aviation Security act to delineate steps for improved coordination among various agencies involved in aviation security and streamlining of procedures for faster immigration and customs clearance.
Chandra said at a time when the countries of South East Asia, China, Japan and the Gulf are talking of expanding their fleet by the hundreds, "We only have about a hundred aircraft in India. If you want to be a serious player, you need more aircraft and that too, expeditiously," he said outlining the growth strategy for the Indian aviation sector.
"There were legal and procedural constraints also. These included the lack of powers to CISF personnel, who now guard the airports. Immigration and customs were handled by agencies of the finance and external affairs ministries," Chandra said.
"The proposed law should improve coordination between all the agencies involved, Chandra said.
On security regulations, Chandra said the committee had recommended restructuring the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to enable it effectively deal with monitoring of the air navigation system and air traffic management. For this, certain amendments to the Aircraft Act, 1934, and Aircraft Rules, 1937, were required.
