'Indian aviation authorities must build more infrastructure'

Indian aviation authorities should strive to add more capacity than currently required to keep pace with the massive growth in the sector projected over the next decade, Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel said today.
"Civil aviation in India has come a long way since 2004-05. But we have just made a beginning. India's aviation sector will certainly become ten times larger in the next 10- 15 years. What we are witnessing today is the setting of the foundations for that to happen," Patel said at a seminar organised by the Air Traffic Controllers' Guild (India) here.
Asking aviation authorities to build more infrastructure capacity than presently required keeping in mind the future growth prospects, Patel, a Civil Aviation Minister for seven years earlier, said the growth in the sector would need a large number of air traffic control officers (ATCOs).

"You should try to build more capacity to produce more than 200 ATCOs you need per year for our own operations. With the abundance of bright minds and trained manpower in India, you can create of pool of ATCOs who can not only serve in- house but also work across the world," he said.
Maintaining that the DGCA was soon going to initiate the process of licensing the ATCOs, Patel said, "The day ATCOs get licensed, they can make use of the opportunities not only within India but in other parts of the world too."
Noting that Indian airspace was the fourth largest after the US, Russia and China, he said managing such a busy air corridor over the Indian airspace and the high seas safely and smoothly was a major achievement.