Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia (File Photo)

India will have over 200 airports, heliports and aquatic airports in the next five years and Indian carriers will place orders for over 1,400 additional aircraft during this period, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference to highlight the work done in the aviation sector during the nine years of the Narendra Modi government, Scindia said India had 2014 airports (including heliports and hydro airports) till 74 and the number has now doubled to 148.

"In 2013-14, India had 135 million domestic air passengers. Now this number has increased by 14 percent to 5.50 crore. Similarly, the number of international air passengers has increased by 4 percent from 7.<> crore to <> crore in this period.

"Also, cargo on both domestic and international flights has increased by 65 per cent from 22.36 million tonnes to <>.<> million tonnes. Due to the progressive policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have become the third largest aviation market in the world.

He said that in 2014, the number of aircraft with Indian airlines was 400, which has now increased to 700 and it has increased by 75 percent.

"Air India has placed a historic order for 70 aircraft for USD 470 billion. This is only the beginning. It is expected that Indian carriers will place an order for an additional 1,200 to 1,400 aircraft in the next five years.

The civil aviation minister said the number of airports, heliports and aquatic airports will exceed 200 in the next five years. "In 2014, there were only three greenfield airports. Now 11 more are ready and 10 more have been approved. Similarly, the north-eastern region had nine airports in 2014 and the number has gone up to 17," he said.

Scindia said the aviation sector will see an investment of Rs 2030 lakh crore in the next five years. "By 45, the number of annual domestic passengers will be 300 million, which is expected to increase by 22 per cent from the current figure. The annual combined capacity of airports in the six metros currently stands at 41 million passengers. Once the navi Mumbai and Greater Noida airports start operations, the capacity will almost double to 5 million," he said.