[Answered] “A cooperative federalism framework can provide the required impetus to the civil aviation sector.” Comment.

Civil aviation in India has grown rapidly since past few years. Despite of potential of generating employment and connecting India within and across the globe, sector is given impetus only in past decades. Central government through its policies like UDAN has tried to percolate civil aviation to common man. But it barely got significant attention from the States until recently.

Role of cooperative federalism in civil aviation growth:

1. The cooperation of States is important for the central government in implementing policies and development of airports for the growth of the civil aviation sector.
2. State governments have the potential to strengthen their partnership under the cooperative federalism framework through providing local support from communities and demanding airports in the region.
3. For any airline in India, the cost of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) forms about 40% of the total operational cost. State can help by keeping petroleum products out of the purview of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
4. Land involves huge capital and is a scarce resource. States can help in resolving issue of land acquisition by guiding locals about the benefits of development of airport in form of employment and connectivity and through timely sufficient compensation to displaced communities.
5. State need to play a significant role in development and management of airports. There are many regional airports which can be developed by States on their own or in collaboration with the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In this, there have been different models of public-private-partnership which can be leveraged to develop infrastructures.
6. States and the Central government can play a crucial role in supporting airlines to develop air services in the remote regions. To reduce operational cost of airlines and airport operators, incentives in the form of financial support such as tax reduction and non-financial incentives such as providing security and fire services free of cost to airport operators can be explored.
7. States may converge their relevant schemes relating to tourism, health, and insurance for supporting air connectivity to supplement the objectives of regional connectivity.
8. States need to create a conducive business environment to facilitate the strong aspirations of India.

Currently the penetration of the aviation market in India stands at 7%. There is potential to be among the global top three nations in terms of domestic and international passenger traffic. Co-operative federalism can help in achieving this potential.