India has become world’s third-largest aviation market: President Murmu

India has become the third-largest aviation market in the world and is growing rapidly, with the number of airports increasing to 147 from just 74 in 2014, President Droupadi Murmu said on Tuesday.

She also said the Indian Railways is emerging as a modern institution and many inaccessible areas are being added to the rail map of the country. In her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Murmu said the country’s aviation sector is also growing rapidly. “Up to 2014, the number of airports in the country was 74, it has now increased to 147. Today India has become the third-largest aviation market in the world. The UDAN Yojana has played an important role in this regard,” she said.

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is the government’s ambitious regional air connectivity scheme and UDAN flights have carried around 1.15 crore people over the last six years. Talking about the India Railways, Murmu said a modern and semi-high-speed train has become part of it in the form of Vande Bharat Express.

“Inaccessible areas of Jammu Kashmir and northeast are also being connected by railways. Major railway stations of the country are being modernised. Indian railways is fast moving towards becoming the world’s largest electric railway network. We are also rapidly expanding indigenous technology — KAVACH — to make Indian railways safer,” she said.