Boeing plans to sell $35-bn planes to India

American aircraft maker Boeing expects India to buy planes worth $35 billion in the next 20 years. The demand will mainly come from new carriers and also because of the government's decision to allow Indian carriers to operate on international routes.

"India has generated a huge demand for aircraft as a result of the recent government decisions. We expect this trend to continue," said Dinesh A Keskar, senior vice president, commercial airplanes, The Boeing Company.

According to Keskar, this will take the total number of airplanes in India to over 400 from the present 175. He, however, did not give a projection for the immediate future.

On its part, the government expects Indian carriers will require 200 new aircraft in the next five years.

A large number of aircraft are likely to be acquired by state-run carriers Air India and Indian Airlines in a move to boost their ageing fleet. Indian Airlines has finaslised plans to buy 43 aircraft, while Air India is fine-tuning its plans to buy 68 planes.

The Air India fleet acquisition plan is worth $6 billion.

Besides, the government also wants the two state-run carriers to double the their size in the next three years. This will mean that the two carriers will have to invest heavily into upgrading their fleets to international levels.

With the Indian carriers now allowed to fly on international routes, they will require to buy aircraft that meet long-haul flying requirements. Most of the carriers are expected to adopt a lease-cum-acquisition model to meet the demand for aircraft.

A huge demand is also expected to come from the large number of proposed low-cost carriers. New carriers to hit the skies in the immediate future will need to acquire about 150 aircraft. Indian low-cost carriers Air Deccan and Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Air have each placed orders for about 30 aircraft.

Aviation industry sources say that the growth stems from the projection that the Indian aviation market will growing at over 25 per cent in the first nine months of the year and that the growth is expected to continue for the rest of the year.