Business
India’s air passenger traffic to surpass pre-Covid numbers: Scindia
India’s civil aviation sector has emerged stronger from Covid-19 and passenger traffic will surge to 410 million by 2024-25, surpassing the pre-pandemic numbers, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday.
Before Covid struck, the passenger throughput (both domestic and international) was 344 million. With international operations set to resume from March 27, the minister exuded confidence that by 2022-23, the number will reach close to 300 million passengers and grow further to 410 million by 2024-25.
The minister was speaking at the inaugural session of Wings India 2022, Asia’s largest civil aviation show being held at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad.
“I am confident in days to come, when you look at combination of domestic and international passengers, the throughput in India which was close to 344 million passengers in 2018-19 prior to Covid will reach close to 300 million by the year 2022-23 and by by 2024-25 we will surpass 410 million passengers creating a new history in India,” he said.
The minister said the aviation sector has gone through tremendous change during Covid. “The number of air passengers in India in 2018-19 was 140 million but then we got hit by Covid but even through this Covid period between the first wave and the second wave and between the second wave and the third wave if there is one sector which reemerged strongly it is the civil aviation,” he said.
He pointed out that post the second wave the sector recovered to reach close to 3.9 lakh passengers per day against the pre-covid number of close to 4.1 lakh passengers. “We were almost back to pre-Covid numbers but then Omicron came and again those numbers dipped to 1.6 lakh passengers per day. Post third wave numbers have again come back close to 3.83 lakh passengers,” he said.
“I am very confident that our sector in days and months to come with the next year will surpass pre-Covid number of 4.1 lakh passengers per day,” the minister added.
He said the international passengers were close to 60 million in 2018-19 but fell to almost 10 million, “But today I am glad that from day after tomorrow we are opening up 100 per cent of international operations so that India can once again reconnect to the rest of the world.”
Scindia said buildings of airports and other infrastructure powers the economic growth. “Civil aviation has an economic multiplier of 3.1. This means every dollar invested in the area of civil aviation yields economic output of 3.1 dollars. It is also an employment multiplier. The economicA multiplier effect is 1:6.1. It means that every direct employment created in area of civil aviation creates 6.1 indirect jobs. Both in terms of employment and output this is one of the largest employment and output generating sectors in the economy,” he said.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman Sanjeev Kumar said domestic traffic has almost come to pre-Covid level and hoped that with the reopening of international air traffic from March 27, the international sector will also reach pre-Covid level soon. He exuded confidence that the double-digit growth would soon return to Indian aviation sector.
Stating that various stakeholders had paused expansion decisions due to the pandemic during last two years, he said the time has come to resume working on these decisions.
Civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal the sector is poised for remarkable growth. He said the growth would be across spectrum of the sector. He said UDAN scheme would be further strengthen to provide air connectivity to tier III and tier IV cities.
Ministers from France, Laos and Nepal and delegations from 22 countries are participating in the four-day event organised jointly by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). Various stakeholders have set up 125 stalls in the exhibition area spread over 8,000 square meters.
Business
Gold, silver gain up to 2 pc amid optimism over West Asia peace talks

Mumbai, June 12: Gold and silver prices traded higher on Friday, with precious metals surging by up to 2 per cent amid hopes of a peace deal in the ongoing West Asia conflict.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold futures (August) increased as much as 1.11 per cent or Rs 1,668 to hit an intraday high of Rs 1,50,600 as of around 11:30 am.
The yellow metal was trading at Rs 1,49,916, up 0.66 per cent or Rs 948. It touched an intraday low of Rs 1,49,569, a gain of 0.42 per cent or Rs 637 from the previous close.
Meanwhile, silver futures (July) traded at Rs 2,42,143, higher by Rs 2,490 or 1 per cent.
The white metal touched an intraday high of Rs 2,44,817, jumping 2.15 per cent during the session so far. It recorded an intraday low of Rs 2,41,601, up 0.81 per cent or Rs 1,948 from the previous close.
Earlier in the day, gold and silver began the session at Rs 1,50,595 and Rs 2,42,776, respectively, on the commodity exchange.
According to commodity market experts, bullion remained under pressure overall and was headed for a second consecutive weekly decline as persistent inflation concerns and growing expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate hike continued to weigh on sentiment.
Analysts said precious metals rebounded sharply from six-month lows after US President Donald Trump indicated that the US and Iran could reach a peace agreement as early as this weekend.
However, gains remained limited amid continued uncertainty over the negotiations, with Iranian officials denying that a final agreement had been reached, according to them.
Optimism around a potential diplomatic breakthrough eased concerns over global energy supplies, triggering a decline in crude oil prices and improving broader market risk appetite, experts added.
Market participants will now track developments in US-Iran negotiations and upcoming commentary from the Federal Reserve for further direction in precious metal prices.
In international markets, COMEX silver traded at $66.94, up more than 4 per cent, while COMEX gold rose over 2 per cent to $4,203.70 per ounce.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices declined sharply, with US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude falling roughly 3 per cent to $85 per barrel. International benchmark Brent crude declined 1.59 per cent to $88.94 per barrel.
Business
Gold, silver prices fall up to 2 pc amid West Asia tensions

Mumbai, June 11: Gold and silver prices traded lower on Thursday, with precious metals falling by up to 2 per cent amid escalating tensions in the West Asia conflict.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold futures (August) declined as much as 1 per cent or Rs 1,573 to hit an intraday low of Rs 1,46,444 as of around 12 pm.
The yellow metal was trading at Rs 1,47,860, down 0.11 per cent or Rs 157. It touched an intraday high of Rs 1,48,089, up 0.04 per cent or Rs 72 from the previous close.
On the other hand, silver futures (July) were trading at Rs 2,34,500, down Rs 1,005 or 0.43 per cent.
The white metal touched an intraday low of Rs 2,30,493, declining 2.12 per cent during the session so far. It recorded an intraday high of Rs 2,35,402, down 0.04 per cent or Rs 103 from the previous close.
Earlier in the day, gold and silver opened at Rs 1,46,518 and Rs 2,31,671, respectively, on the MCX.
In international markets, precious metals also remained under pressure. COMEX silver was trading at $63.90, down over 1.29 per cent, while COMEX gold was trading 0.68 per cent lower at $4,105.30 per ounce.
According to commodity analysts, precious metals remained under pressure as investors assessed the latest developments in the West Asia conflict. Gold stabilised near multi-month lows after the US military confirmed the completion of its latest strikes on Iran, raising expectations that diplomatic negotiations could resume.
They said easing safe-haven demand, coupled with expectations that US interest rates could remain higher for longer, weighed on bullion prices. Higher interest rates reduce the appeal of non-yielding assets such as gold and silver.
Market participants also continued to monitor inflationary pressures stemming from rising energy prices and their potential impact on the US Federal Reserve’s policy path.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices surged sharply, with Brent crude rising over 2 per cent to trade near $95 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 4 per cent to $93.64 per barrel.
Business
Indian markets trade higher despite West Asia tensions

Mumbai, June 10: Domestic equity markets traded higher on Wednesday in the morning session despite elevated geopolitical tensions and rising crude oil prices.
Sensex gained as much as 0.59 per cent or over 400 points to touch an intraday high of 74,356 in early trade, while the Nifty rose 0.46 per cent or about 100 points to 23,351.
Sectoral performance was largely positive, with FMCG stocks leading the gains. Nifty FMCG rose 1.5 per cent, followed by Nifty Chemicals (0.67 per cent), Nifty Oil & Gas (0.60 per cent) and Nifty Private Bank (0.50 per cent).
On the downside, metal stocks remained under pressure, with Nifty Metal declining more than 1 per cent. Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom fell 0.62 per cent, while Auto, Media and PSU Bank indices traded marginally lower.
Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Hindalco Industries emerged as the top loser, shedding nearly 3 per cent. Eternal, Adani Enterprises, NTPC and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) were among the other major laggards.
“While weak global cues and geopolitical tensions could keep markets volatile in the near term, technical indicators suggest signs of stabilisation after recent selling pressure. Nifty has strong support around 23,000-23,100, while 23,500-23,600 remains the immediate resistance zone. A decisive breakout on either side is likely to determine the market’s next directional move,” analysts said.
Investors and traders’ sentiment remained cautious amid escalating tensions in West Asia after the United States launched strikes on Iran, raising concerns about a broader regional conflict and its potential impact on global energy supplies.
On the commodities front, international benchmark Brent crude rose 0.75 per cent to around $93 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.88 per cent to nearly $90 per barrel.
In Asia, markets traded largely in the red. Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined more than 1 per cent each, while South Korea’s KOSPI plunged nearly 4 per cent.
Overnight, Wall Street ended lower, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.26 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite declining 0.97 per cent.
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