India to build 100 new airports within 10-15 years: Suresh Prabhu

Participating at the International Aviation Summit, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu on Tuesday said that India plans to construct 100 airports at an estimated cost of USD 60 billion (about Rs 4.2 lakh crore) in the next 10 to 15 years.

"100 new airports are being planned to be built in India in the next 10-15 years with an investment of 60 Billion dollar. we are also working on the Cargo policy which will provide a boost to the nation's logistics capacity", said Prabhu.

These airports are to be constructed through public private partnership, he added.

Stating the country's aviation sector as one of the fastest-growing in the world which has recorded 50 months of double-digit traffic growth, the Aviation Minister said, "The Aviation sector has the potential to contribute significantly to the contribution of not India's economic growth but also the world at large".

Prabhu also opines that India can be the hub for the training of manpower which can cater to the growing needs of Aviation industry globally. We invite global players to work with us to set up world class training centres which will benefit the industry over a period of time.

According to global airlines' grouping IATA, India is expected to overtake Germany, Japan, Spain and the UK within the next ten years to become the world's third largest air passenger market.