NEW DELHI: India is the world’s third largest domestic aviation market and the increase in flight routes in the last 10 years has benefitted Tier 2 and 3 cities, President Droupadi Murmu said on Thursday.In her address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Murmu said the country has grown at an average rate of 8 per cent annually from 2021 to 2024.She emphasised that in 10 years, India has risen to become the 5th largest economy from the 11th position.”India is the world’s third largest domestic aviation market,” she said, adding that in April 2014, there were only 209 airline routes, which increased to 605 by April 2024.”This increase in the aviation routes has directly benefitted Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities,” she noted.Air traffic demand is on the rise and airlines are expanding their fleet to fly more people, while the number of airports are also increasing.During the January-May 2024 period, domestic airlines carried 661. 42 lakh passengers, as against 636. 07 lakh during the year-ago period, according to the latest official data.The President also said the government has decided to conduct feasibility studies for bullet train corridors in the country’s north, south and east.Highlighting infrastructure development in the country, which according to her, has emerged as the new face of a changing India, Murmu said, “My Government has decided to conduct feasibility studies for bullet train corridors in the North, South and East of the country.” She also mentioned the ongoing high-speed rail project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai in the western part of the country.”Work on the High-Speed Rail Ecosystem between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is also progressing at a rapid pace,” Murmu said.The 508-km Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed corridor is the first in the country on which a bullet train will run at 320 kmph speed covering the whole distance in just 2 hours and 7 minutes with limited stops at Surat, Vadodara and Ahmedabad.The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited, which is constructing the project, has announced the projected completion of its first phase between Surat and Bilimora by August 2026.Speaking on the government’s efforts to make India’s public transport system one of the best in the world, she said, “In 10 years, Metro has reached 21 cities. Work is going on in many schemes such as Vande Metro.”
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