After years of frustration, India’s business aviation community is hoping that a new report due to be published next month will trigger a sea change in government policy toward the industry. A team of representatives from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation is preparing for business and general aviation in India a blueprint that could form the foundation for a more transparent and consistent approach to both regulating and stimulating the industry.

The new report is expected to outline a future strategy for the sector, taking into account its present constraints in infrastructure and regulations, an ICAO official told AIN at the Indian Business Aviation Expo, held in New Delhi late last month. The recommendations are expected to take their place in India’s new civil aviation policy. “It is essential that a senior official in the ministry of civil aviation be made the point guard for general and business aviation,” asserted Kapil Kaul, CEO for India and the Middle East with the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

A recent report from CAPA highlighted a complete lack of recognition for the business aviation sector in Indian government policy. The country remains one of the world’s biggest prospective markets for business aviation, with projections of new aircraft sales worth around $12 billion there between now and 2020.