On Tuesday, India announced its first national air sports policy to promote sporting activities like aerobatics, paragliding, and skydiving. The policy will cover aerobatics, aeromodelling, model rocketry, amateur and experimental aircraft, drones, ballooning, gliding, powered gliding, powered hang gliding, skydiving, parachuting, base jumping, wingsuit flying, paragliding, and para-motoring.
The government announced earlier it would make India one of the top air sports nations by 2030. The Indian Air Sports Federation will serve as the governing body for such sports. It will provide public draft guidelines in a span of six months after consulting stakeholders. The policy said, “This federation will be chaired by civil minister secretary Rajib Bansal.” This federation will be an autonomous body representing India at the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) and various other global platforms related to airports.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia released the policy and said, “The youth of India represents the future of aero sports.” Programs aimed at raising interest in aerial sports will be encouraged. Schools, colleges, and universities will be encouraged to have air sports included in the curriculum”.
At the moment, India earned around ₹80 to ₹100 crores in revenue from air sports, with around 5,000 practitioners. However, it is believed that it can go from ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 crores. It can also increase from around 5,000 jobs to 100,000 direct jobs.
