Current Affairs Date: 07 January 2023

⇒ Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia inaugurated the 4th Heli-India Summit 2022 at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre, Srinagar on 10 October 2022.

Theme:

The theme of the 4th Heli-India Summit was ‘Helicopters for last Mile Connectivity’.

Highlights:

» While inaugurating the summit Shri Scindia said that a civil enclave will be built in Jammu at a cost of Rs 861 crores and the Srinagar’s present terminal will be expanded three times from 20,000 square meters to 60,000 square meters at a cost of Rs 1500 crores.

• • The decrease in VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) from 26.5 percent to one percent by the J&K government has set a new dawn for air connectivity in the Union territory with 360 percent increase in refueling, thus increasing the air connectivity to Jammu and Kashmir.
  • From 1947 to 2014, the country had only 74 airports, but now the number has increased to 141, with 67 added in last seven years which shows the pace of progress in the Civil Aviation sector.
  • The government is committed to increase the number to above 200 in the next few years.

» Shri Scindia further said that Civil Aviation Ministry not only organizes summits but also monitors the progress of ‘Sankalps’ taken from one summit to another.

• • During the 3rd Heli-India Summit at Dehradun, the eight Sankalps taken like providing Heli-Sewa Portal, Heli-Disha, Helicopter Accelerator Cell, doing away with the landing & parking charges for helicopter service, creation of specific helicopter corridors, helipads to be given priority while framing DPR for all new highways, upgradation of Juhu airbase to accommodate night operations etc. were taken to their logical end.
  • HeliSewa portal is fully online and being used by all operators for obtaining landing permissions to helipads, and it also is creating a database of helipads in the country.
  • HeliDisha, the guidance material on helicopter operations for State administration has been distributed to 780 districts.

HEMS pilot

» Shri scindia said that we have also decided to incubate a HEMS pilot called Project Sanjeevani by deploying a helicopter in the next few weeks to provide emergency medical services at AIIMS Rishikesh.

• • The helicopter will be based at the hospital at 20 min notice and will have a service cover to an area of 150 km radius.
  • It is the intention of the Govt to expand medical outreach and access to trauma care services to a wider population base across the country using the speed advantage and mobility of helicopters.
  • We will use the learnings from Project Sanjeevani to explore the viability of the concept, its benefits, and the attendant risks and later articulate a national policy on HEMS before committing larger resources.

Guidelines on Fractional Ownership Model

» The Minister informed that the guidelines on Fractional Ownership Model have been released to help grow the non-scheduled operations.

• • While our scheduled operations are on the fast track and we have increased the fleet size from 400 aeroplanes in 2013 to more than 700 in 2021-22, through these guidelines, we should be able to spur growth in the non-scheduled fleet too.
  • Fractional ownership will lower the barrier on the cost of acquisition of helicopters and aeroplanes through pooled capital by multiple owners.
  • This will allow companies and individuals to minimise their capital outflow by sharing the purchase cost, reducing their exposure to risks and making it financially easier to run a NSOP business.
  • Fractional Ownership Model has the potential to energize the NSOP segment by democratising ownership of aircraft and it can be a key driver to boost the number of aircraft existing in the NSOP industry.