Business jet companies seek level playing

Hyderabad: Even as India remains the only bright spot in the global economy, business jet operators have not witnessed any improvement in their fortunes.

The growth of business aircraft traffic, which are typically used by senior corporate officials, is indicative of the healthy corporate earnings. “The business aviation sector has a potential to contribute Rs 3,400 crore to the overall GDP of the country. But it will end up contributing only Rs 2,300 crore due to various factors — one of them being import duty. Because of the huge import duty, people are deferring purchases.

The import duty for private category is 20 per cent. For commercial category, the tax is 2.5 per cent. We want rationalisation,” said  Jayant Nadkarni, president, Business Aircraft Operators Association.

Talking on the sidelines of the BizAvIndia Conference, he further said that the draft aviation policy failed to address the issues concerning private business aircraft operators.