Indicating that the Budget had failed to give any relief to the ailing aviation sector, industry experts today said that the domestic aviation sector will continue to struggle for another year.
"Overall, nothing to write home about. India's troubled aviation sector will continue to struggle for another year," global consultancy KPMG partner and India head of aerospace and defence Amber Dubey said.
The beleaguered industry's long pending expectations of tax rebates on jet fuel, Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) services, airports and general aviation have been ignored yet again, Dube said, adding a higher service tax will enhance airfares and the loss of MRO revenue, jobs and taxes to Sri Lanka, ASEAN and gulf countries will continue.
Terming ad silver lining government's proposal to unveil a comprehensive Bankruptcy Code in the current fiscal, which aims at improving the ease of doing business environment in the country, Dhiraj Mathur, executive director at global consultancy PwC said that had government taken such a step earlier, some airlines would have been flying today.
"The only silver lining for the aviation industry is the bankruptcy code," Mathur said.
The founder of the erstwhile carrier Air Deccan G R Gopinath said India cannot compete in the global economy if aviation is not integral to the economic vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Aviation is not on the radar of Modi or Jaitely. China is a good example to emulate. It has massive investments in railways, roads, ports and airlines - the four pillars, instead of freebies.
"If aviation does not become affordable and if air connectivity does not reach the interiors, then you won't have investments going to the hinterland," Gopinath said.
"The vision for the double digit growth is very encouraging. The budget appears to lay a roadmap for lower taxes, simplification of process and ease of doing business and investment in infrastructure sector. The proposal to increase visa-on-arrival to 150 countries is a welcome step that will boost tourism as well aviation in the country," budget airline SpiceJet's promoter Ajay Singh said.
