 Assessing last month’s Air Cargo India that took
place in Mumbai (Feb.23-25), reliable sources told FlyingTypers that “most people in our circle were there to
receive an award or act as a speaker.”
“There was a lot
of hype and ballyhoo connected to the appearance of
Renu Singh Parmar, the Senior Economic Advisor in the
Ministry of Civil Aviation.
“Unfortunately,
Renu had nothing new to say.
“Everyone wished
that Renu might have ramped up some excitement and brought
news of promises kept by the government amidst projections
that India’s air cargo business will rise from
2.6 million tons in 2015 to nearly 8.7 million tons
by 2030, but for Air Cargo India, her words were that
things need to be streamlined and that the government
is taking initiatives for good infrastructure and multimodal
connectivity.”
“Telling a professional
transportation audience that the government and the
ministry of Civil Aviation ‘are trying to solve
hindrances,’ without much other explanation seems
a bit empty.”
The truth is that the
previous government prepared a detailed working paper
on how to boost air cargo and the entire aviation sector.
The wonder is what happened
to that plan, as apparently the new government (2014)
has stalled and things have not advanced as promised.
Instead, the future plan
for development of India’s aviation seems pushed
back to square one as legions of government bureaucrats
go about their daily business mired in attempts to outdo
each other to earn brownie points with their bosses.
At this point in time,
as India’s economy is booming, the civil aviation
sector seems to be locked in a dead heat, going round
and round on a baggage carousel.
But hope—just like
the air cargo conference events that will pop up monthly
for the rest of 2016—springs eternal.
Geoffrey |
100%
Green