Indian air cargo sector has tremendous potential and great future and I don’t want to limit that to only transporting equipment and merchandising but also in terms of Krishi Udan scheme, horticulture, poultry, perishables and fresh foods that need to be moved from one destination to another. We found with Krishi Udan, that from far-flung areas of India actually horticulture, fruits, vegetables are being transported not only domestically but internationally as well to Germany and many other destinations,” said Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, the Minister of Civil Aviation at the 14th International Civil Aviation Conference cum Awards organised by the ASSOCHAM in New Delhi on Wednesday.
“So I believe that the potential for cargo is tremendous, the fact that we increased our number of freighters and also the cargo volumes that we transported. It shows that it’s a sector that holds tremendous promise.” “Earlier there were many pain points that were listed of which we have resolved a few. The latest to be resolved was the whole issue of transshipment and the fact that cargo gets checked twice when it’s already been checked at the original destination along with BCAS. We’ve resolved that to a great extent for stakeholders. But I do believe that cargo and industries have tremendous potential in terms of service and airports,” he further added. “I think as far as the scheduled carriers are concerned, there is no restriction, only for the NSOP that is restricted to six ventures and I think the NSOP is a very small share. I don’t think the policy structure in place today restricts the proportion. I think the stakeholders should use bonded warehouses to facilitate ease of doing business. The growth of the industry will lie in industry’s stakeholders’ success. I think that’s a lesson that the cargo industry captains should keep in mind when they talk about the growth industry.”