The Rajya Sabha has passed the Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2025. The bill seeks to give legal effect to the convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. The Bill also empowers the central government to make rules to implement the provisions of the Convention and the Protocol. The legislation designates the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as the registry authority for the purposes of the convention. The registry authority is responsible for the registration and de-registration of aircraft.
Replying to the discussion on the bill, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that India is the third largest domestic Civil Aviation market in the world. He said that in the last ten years, tremendous progress has been witnessed in the aviation sector. Mr Naidu said that in 2014, the total domestic passenger market was 60.7 million, which has doubled to 161.3 million. The international passengers has also increased from 43 million in 2014 to over 66 million in 2024. The Minister said, the number of aircraft and airports have also increased in the country. He said that in 2014, the number of aircraft in the country was around 359, which has increased to 840 aircraft. The Minister added that no other country in the world has witnessed tremendous growth like India in the last ten years in the aviation sector.
Mr Naidu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the mantra of Hawai Chappal se Hawai Jahaj ka Safar to fulfill the dreams of the common man to fly. He highlighted that in the last ten years, the NDA government has brought revolution in the Civil Aviation sector.
Earlier, participating in the discussion, Sadanand Mhalu Shet of the BJP said that the bill will further strengthen investors’ confidence and enhance India’s global standing in the aviation sector. He said India is one of the world’s largest growing aviation markets. Sadanand said that the country’s air travel sector has experienced rapid growth, with an estimated market size of 13.88 billion dollars in 2024, which is expected to reach 26.8 billion dollars by 2030.
Sandosh Kumar of CPI stressed the need to protect the interests of passengers and stakeholders related to the aviation industry. He also stressed the need to enhance the budgetary provision for the Civil Aviation Ministry. Sanjay Kumar Jha of JD (U), Haris Beeran of IUML, A A Rahim of CPI (M) and Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju of BRS also took part in the discussion.