The Air Cargo Forum, an industry association held its annual conclave which brought together stakeholders from the industry as well as the government. The event focussed on the various steps needed to meet the government's target of taking air cargo from three million tonnes to 10 million tonnes by 2030.

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Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Piyush Srivastava, Senior Economic Advisor at Civil Aviation Ministry, said that the government plans to bring in more cargo facilities at airports to achieve the 10 million tonnes target.

"For achieving the 10 million tonnes target by 2030, we will bring in more cargo facilities in other airports. On the infrastructure side, we have the red carpet rolled out. On the policy front, there are various issues that need to be tackled — most of them are on the taxation side, but it is a work in progress. I don't think there is a problem in terms of demand for the cargo movement. So we are in for a good time as far as cargo is concerned," Srivastava said.

The majority of India's domestic cargo movement is largely done through rail and road transport but ever since e-commerce made its way into Indian households, the demand for exotic foods, footwear, clothing and electronics among other items has seen an exponential surge. That has offered a new and big opportunity to air cargo players. Cargo service providers, airlines and airport operators are the key stakeholders in this business. While they are banking on the new opportunities that this market offers, they also highlight some key hurdles that they want the government to remove for unleashing growth.

Yashpal Sharma, MD of Skyways Group and President of ACFI, believes that the 10 million tonnes target of air cargo movement cannot be achieved without the participation of the MSME sector. He added that air cargo can help MSMEs expand their business to newer markets.

"The journey from current levels to 10 million tonnes cannot have the same propellers as what we had in the past. What we need to do now is, with all the manufacturing push that is coming along, we need the government of India to walk with us and all the other associations like FIEO, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, we want all of us to make a collaborative effort to go to the absolute down the line MSME sector and tell them the real benefits of cargo. Air cargo can actually empower businesses and that is what we need to go and advocate to them. Air cargo can help them look at newer markets, the markets that they have probably never touched before," Sharma said.

Glyn Hughes, DG of TIACA said, "E-commerce is another global growth driver which is very significant in terms of driving the industry forward. In most countries, we talk about e-commerce as an inbound activity whereas in India you have not only inbound opportunities but outbound as well. The world wants to have what India makes and that is something which is very positive going forward."

Hyderabad Airport will also be constructing a new terminal as well as expanding the existing terminal for handling 3,50,000 tonnes of cargo.

Pradeep Panicker, CEO of Hyderabad International Airport, said, "Hyderabad Airport has only one terminal. It has a capacity of about 1,50,000 tonnes but currently, we are setting up a second cargo terminal as well as expanding the existing terminal. So after the completion of expansion, we should be able to handle 3,50,000 tonnes. Currently, we hardly handle one percent of cargo volume through the air and even if that figure goes to two percent the amount of cargo we handle is doubled based on today's volume."

Air connectivity is helping several Indian businesses ship their products faster to end consumers and as the cargo players said, India has a huge opportunity in this area. Cargo players add that increased government support will help them expand their business and tap this huge opportunity.

Also Read: Foreign carriers dominate India’s international air cargo, take around 95% market share

First Published:May 4, 2023 7:34 PM IST