- The government has hinted at rationalization of various taxes in the aviation sector ahead of the Budget 2021
- All commercial activities are now dependent on the recovery of aviation, tourism and hospitality industry
- Speaking at a webinar on “Connecting the Dots-Recovery of aviation, tourism and hospitality”, Padhee underscored the need for the sector to be ‘armed’ sufficiently
THoD Newsdesk, New Delhi: Keeping in mind that the tourism industry is one of the hardest-hit sectors amid the covid crisis, the government has hinted at rationalization of various taxes in the aviation sector ahead of the Budget 2021. Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation was quoted saying, “We are working on a long-term plan to help the sector by rationalizing various taxes. We are looking forward to making the ecosystem smarter and more efficient to make the aviation sector sustainable.”
Speaking at a webinar on “Connecting the Dots-Recovery of aviation, tourism and hospitality”, Padhee underscored the need for the sector to be ‘armed’ sufficiently for any challenges and said that policy rejig will further be of use in the long run, if it is hit by a similar crisis anytime in tthe future. The webinar was organised by Women in Aviation International – India Chapter.
Fang Liu, the Secretary-General of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, was also present at the meeting. The panel also had industry leaders and experts, including, Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director at Medanta, Dr Shefali Juneja, Representative of India at International Civil Aviation Organization (first lady to be in this position), Kiran Jain, Chief Operating Officer at Noida International Airport (A Zurich Airport Company). Jain is also the first lady COO for an Indian airport.
Focusing on the success of the Udan scheme, she further added, “Though the pandemic has adversely impacted the aviation and allied sectors, yet we have managed to take steps towards recovery. We are systematically opening the air space for operations and the air bubbles have helped the aviation sector to get 60 per cent capacity of the domestic sector back.” She further added that great solutions are borne out of crisis while talking about the fact, how this industry has quickly adjusted to technology and revamped itself digitally.
“The crisis has led to digital transformation for the aviation sector. Now we have 100 per cent web check-ins and various technology-driven solutions have been adopted to offer touchless experience to passengers,” she said. As per pre-Covid forecasts, in 2036, the aviation industry will provide 98 million jobs and generate $5.7 trillion in GDP. Post-Covid, the situation has been reversed completely, throwing the industry in a state of frenzy and rearrangements. All sorts of commercial activities are now dependent on the recovery of aviation, tourism and hospitality industry.
