IndiGo launches flight operations from Hindon Airport, connecting 9 cities
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu has launched new flight routes from Hindon Airport in Ghaziabad, to be operated by IndiGo.After Air India Express, IndiGo becomes the second airline to mark its presence in Hindon Airport. Four months ago, Air India Express started its operations here.Hindon Airport in NCR will now be connected with nine Indian cities -- Bengaluru, Kolkata, Varanasi, Goa, Patna, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Indore through IndiGo services."This is an (Udan) success of, Hindon, Ghaziabad, western Uttar Pradesh, and entire country. This is an Udan of the ambitions and aspirations of common Indians," the Union minister said from the Hindon Airport.Airlines fleet, airports, terminal capacity, and flyers have doubled in India over the past decade, the minister said, reflecting the growth India's civil aviation sector has made."During 2024-2034, civil aviation in tier II and III cities will grow and we will have to unlock the potential. Hindon will serve as an example," the minister said.With operations from both Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) and Hindon Airport (HDO), flyers based out of the National Capital Region will be served by these two airports.The Hindon Airport's development work was taken up in 2019 under UDAN at Rs 50 crore, in collaboration with Indian Air Force, Minister Naidu said in his address today.Minister, during his speech, said the annual flyers from Hindon Airport was about 8,000 in 2019, which has risen to upwards of 80,000 now.Union Budget 2025-26 has put an additional thrust on the ever-growing domestic civil aviation sector.Inspired by the success of the previous regional connectivity scheme, a modified UDAN scheme will be launched to enhance regional connectivity to 120 new destinations and carry 4 crore passengers in the next 10 years.The UDAN scheme, launched in April 2017, focuses on improving unserved air routes in underserved regions. India's aviation industry has experienced significant growth in the past decade, and the number of operational airports in the country has since doubled.The government aims to make India a global aviation hub by 2030.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scroll.in
17 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
India's passport rank jumps to 77 among 199 countries
India has climbed to the 77th position out of 199 countries from 85 in January in a list of world's most powerful passports, according to the 2025 Henley Passport Index released on Wednesday for the second quarter. The index, published by citizenship and residence consultancy firm Henley and Partners, measures the strength of all the passports around the world based on how many destinations can be accessed by the passport-holders of a specific country without a pre-departure visa. India has recorded the largest jump in the rankings over the past six months, despite adding only two destinations to its visa-free tally. Indians can travel to 59 countries without a visa, as per the latest index. Last year, Indian passport holders could travel to 62 countries without a visa, even though India ranked 80th on the list. According to data available on the firm's website for years between 2006 and 2025, India ranked the lowest at 90 in 2021. Its best ranking was 71 in 2006. In the latest index, India shared the 77th spot with Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal. Among India's neighbours, Pakistan stood at 96, which was a climb from its rank of 103 in January, and Bangladesh was at 94. It was 100 in January. Singapore retained its top rank in the passport index. Citizens of the Southeast Asian city-state can travel to 193 nations without a pre-departure visa. Japan and South Korea had the second-most powerful passports in the world, each granting their citizens access to 190 destinations visa-free. The United States slipped to 10th place in the latest ranking, continuing a long-term downward trend. The US has fallen in the ranking every year since 2014, when its passport was ranked as the most powerful. It is now on the verge of falling out of the top 10 for the first time in the index's 20-year history. The weakest passport remained that of Afghanistan, which is ranked 99. Afghan citizens can only visit 25 countries without a visa.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
17 minutes ago
- Business Standard
6 factors that will impact India Inc's earnings in the quarters ahead
The June 2-25 quarter (Q1-FY26) Nifty earnings are likely to be weak, with growth expected at only 5 per cent year-on-year (YoY). Excluding metals and oil marketing companies, earnings growth drops closer to 4 per cent. A significant drag comes from the private banking sector, which is expected to report its second consecutive quarter of declining earnings since March 2020. Meanwhile, the PSU banking sector is likely to report moderate earnings growth of 5 per cent, the lowest in 20 quarters. The auto sector is projected to see a year-on-year decline of 10 per cent. Pharma sector is expected to report 11 per cent year-on-year growth, marking a moderation after eight consecutive quarters of 15 per cent+ earnings growth. The chemical sector is expected to record 10 per cent year-on-year earnings growth, marking its second consecutive quarter of growth after seven quarters of decline. That said, there are six factors that will impact earnings growth in the quarters ahead. #1: Low inflation is dragging down revenue growth Low inflation is good for our economy and has resulted in an easy monetary policy as well as lower interest rates. Lower interest rates help higher valuations in the market. However, lower inflation also means lower nominal GDP growth. There is a strong linkage between nominal GDP growth and revenue growth. While real GDP growth in India will be robust in FY26, we see nominal GDP growth at 9 per cent being amongst the lowest over past 20 years given likely GDP deflator of under 3 per cent. Over the past 20 years, FY20 was the only year which saw a lower nominal GDP growth excluding Covid-impacted FY21. #2: Banks dragging down overall earnings The banking sector has a significant impact on overall earnings growth given that it accounts for over a third of the index. Over the past few years, a revival in bank earnings led by lower provisions and rising NIMs helped overall earnings growth. However, with interest rates falling NIMs are coming under pressure and bank earnings are lacklustre. This is dragging down overall earnings growth. Earnings growth #3: Margins peaking? Onus on revenue growth Analysts are forecasting FY26 EBITDA margins at 21.8 per cent, which will be the highest in a decade. While margins may not fall materially, we think margin increase from here will be difficult. Thus bulk of earnings growth will have to be accounted by increased revenue growth. #4: Trump tariffs can be a mixed bag We see a greater probability of Trump going ahead with his tariff plans from August 1st. This has the risk of raising inflation in the USA as tariffs seem to average well above the 10 per cent rate currently. Moreover, this could trigger a slow-down in the USA and impact growth across the world including India. So, while tariffs are overall negative in terms of a slowing global economy, the more specific impact on India depends on the contours of an Indo-US trade pact, if any. The key to watch is the tariffs on Indian goods relative to that on other countries it competes with. We think a tariff of around 15 per cent may relatively be good for India given that most competitors are currently at 20-30 per cent tariffs. #5: Consumption spend should improve Three factors will drive consumption spend over the next few months. First, the monsoons. Better monsoons have led to better sowing of crops. Some of this could be due to early sowing relative to last year since monsoons arrived ahead of the normal schedule. But with monsoons looking normal, we think agriculture growth will be strong this year leading to higher rural income. Second is urban consumption, which will be supported by the tax break of around Rs 1 lakh crores given in the budget in February 2025. Thirdly, lower interest rates and easy monetary conditions will lead to lower EMIs helping urban consumption. #6: Capex is better than consensus believes The consensus view is that the Government has done most of the heavy lifting on capex and private sector capex has been missing. The good news is that Government has continued to accelerate capex spend and has rightly front loaded its capex for the year. But the even better news is that the private sector capex has accelerated over the past 2 years. We still do not see anything like the animal spirits we saw in FY2004-07 phase. But even a more gradual recovery will help the economy and earnings. Listed corporate capex will practically double from FY22 to FY26. Listed corporate capex as per cent of Nominal GDP has moved up from 2.7 per cent in FY22 to 3.3 per cent in FY25.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
17 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Lavish homes left by fleeing Gupta brothers up for sale in South Africa
South Africa is selling off three multimillion rand mansions owned by the Gupta brothers, a trio of influential Indian-born businessmen at the center of a corruption scandal that triggered the country's worst political and economic crisis since the end of Apartheid. Atul, Rajesh and Ajay Gupta began buying the properties in Thursday's auction in 2006. There, in Saxonwold, one of Johannesburg's oldest and most affluent neighborhoods, they entertained top politicians and businessmen for at least a decade. But as their public profile grew, so did allegations that they exerted undue influence over the state for their own enrichment. Protesters gathered regularly outside the compound's high walls and perimeter fences, demanding accountability. The brothers fled to Dubai shortly before the ruling African National Congress in 2018 forced Jacob Zuma to quit as president to stem a loss in electoral support, partly due to his links to the family. Their compound has been largely empty ever since. Protected by private armed guards, it became a symbol among opposition members and activists of the staggering levels of corruption in the country, and the challenges in holding those implicated in that corruption to account. President Cyril Ramaphosa has estimated that more than 500 billion rand ($28 billion) was plundered during his predecessor's near nine-year tenure and said that tackling graft — which has hobbled key institutions such as state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and freight rail and ports operator Transnet SOC Ltd — is a priority. But to date, no senior official has been successfully prosecuted in connection to it. During a Saturday viewing of the compound organized by the auction house, Park Village Auctions, traces of the lavish lifestyle the brothers led in Africa's richest city were on display: a Cartier jewelry catalog, a Royal Caribbean cruise brochure and a hand-written inventory of fine whiskeys and champagne. Elsewhere green water fills an indoor pool, and moss grows on water features and a mini cricket pitch. Deep cracks run through window panes. Paint and plaster are peeling off walls. And the thatched roof of an outdoor bar is in tatters. The neglect means that although the three properties — which have different title deeds and will be auctioned separately — have a combined municipal value of about 64 million rand, they're likely to sell at a 'bargain price,' according to auctioneer Clive Lazarus. Individual residences in the neighborhood can sell for as much as 20 million rand, he said. Proceeds from the sale will help settle claims by creditors since Confident Concept Pty Ltd., the Gupta-linked company that owns the properties, entered into a local form of bankruptcy protection in 2018. The auction had been held up because it was in litigation over financial distress and disputes about property development with local authorities. The compound's role as the epicenter in what became known as 'state capture' was highlighted during a probe led by former chief justice Raymond Zondo, which began in 2018 and implicated more than 1,400 persons and entities. His panel heard that the brothers held clandestine meetings in their homes, where many people were offered kickbacks to help the family and their associates influence government decision making and secure contracts. The Guptas and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing. Atul was the first of the brothers to arrive from India in South Africa in 1993, just as the country was transitioning to democracy. Dispatched to the continent in search of fortune by his father, a trader of spices and soapstone powders, he founded Sahara Computers Ltd., a year later. The company, an importer and distributor of Windows PCs, grew and his brothers joined him. A single introduction to a member of the new political elite paved the way for the Guptas to mingle in powerful circles. During the viewing of the mansions, a safe that appeared to be forced open, boxes of prescription medicine, as well as spices and cupboards piled high with dinnerware suggested the Guptas left South Africa in haste. Atul and Rajesh — who are wanted in South Africa on charges including money laundering and fraud, and sanctioned by both the US and UK government — were arrested in United Arab Emirates in 2022. That's after Interpol placed them on its most-wanted list. But a UAE court, in 2023, denied South Africa's plea to extradite the brothers and their arrest warrant was canceled. South Africa provisionally withdrew its arrest warrant for Ajay in 2019, according to Reuters. Spokespersons for the President and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development referred questions, including about plans to extradite the fugitive brothers and prosecute others implicated in graft, to the National Prosecuting Authority. The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, a unit of the National Prosecuting Authority, declined to answer questions. A fourth property in the compound still bears a 'SAHARA ESTATE' sign on the outer wall but it is not up for auction this week. It's registered to a separate company linked to the family, according to Deeds Office data. The three mansions in the auction are zoned for residential use. Should the new owners want to use them for something else, they'd have to apply for permits, which aren't guaranteed to be approved. For Lumkile Mondi, a senior economics lecturer at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand, the auction is an important step but challenges lie ahead. 'The reality is that when corruption, fraud, and destruction happens, it doesn't only take place the top, it filters down to other levels,' he said. 'For many South Africans, the biggest impact has been on the supply of water, electricity and fixing of roads. To change that requires serious commitment and it's going to take a long, long time before we get things right.'
