Helipads will be built on all national highways of the country

Helipads will be built on all national highways of the country: Help will be available in an emergency, and appeals to states to reduce VAT on turbine fuel

Oct 19, 2022 - 19:37
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Helipads will be built on all national highways of the country

Now all the national highways of the country will have helipads. They can be used in an emergency condition. This information was given by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Scindia was talking to reporters after the Civil Aviation Ministry's conference here.
Jyotiraditya Scindia said that in consultation with the Ministry of Road Transport, it has been decided that there should be helipads on the new highway so that the infrastructure can be prepared. The government's emphasis is on increasing the use of helicopters, especially in remote and mountainous areas.
Scindia urged the governments of Assam, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Bihar and Punjab to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) for the development of the civil aviation sector in their states. He also urged West Bengal, Delhi and Punjab to reduce VAT on Air Turbine Fuel ATF to facilitate air connectivity to Tier-II, and Tier-III cities.
Scindia promised to increase the connectivity of the plane in these states by reducing VAT on turbine fuel. He said that 12 states had already prepared on this issue, where many months ago, VAT on ATF was reduced and hence they increased their travel to their states. This is because planes will go where raw materials are cheaper. However, the ATF is between 45-50 percent of the total cost of the airline sector.
Still, the ATF of the states is 20-30%. In the last one and a half years, the graph of turbine fuel has increased from Rs 53 thousand per km to Rs 1.40 lakh per km. While the ATF has come down by about 20% in the last few months, the highest cost segment of the airline sector is still ATF.
India's record in pre-Covid was around 4 lakh aircraft passengers every day. We broke that record twice - in April this year and a few days back. This time a new record has been set between 4.07 lakh to 4.1 lakh passengers.

Muskan Kumawat Journalist & Writer