India’s annual budget for civil aviation sector reduced to half

The Indian Government has reduced the annual budget for aviation sector by more than half to almost $380 million, mainly due to reduced liabilities of Air India following its privatization, but the funds for regional connectivity scheme UDAN was considerable increased. The budget for last year was $1.3 billion. In 2022, around INR 92 billion had gone to Air India Asset Holdings Limited (AIAHL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to handle the loans and debts for the financial restructuring of Air India. This year, the amount for AIAHL was reduced significantly to $135 million with the privatization of the carrier.