Aircraft leasing at GIFT City set to double in 2 years, says Union aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu

Ahmedabad: The number of aircraft being leased through GIFT City is expected to double over the next two years as India positions itself as a major aviation financing and leasing destination, said Union civil aviation minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Friday.

Addressing the inaugural session of the India Aircraft Leasing and Financing Summit 2.0 at GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Naidu said, “India does not seek to compete with established global aircraft leasing hubs but instead aims to complement them by building a strong regional ecosystem. The globe is so strongly connected that we can have multiple regional centres across the world, and India wants to be a strong player in that. We want to be a global player, but at the same time complementing the global industry.”

The minister added, “Countries in India’s neighbourhood are also witnessing rapid aviation growth and would increasingly look towards India for leadership in the sector. We need to take the right steps and create the right ecosystem because not only India but a bigger region is enabled through the ecosystem we build here.”

Naidu said India must move beyond using GIFT-IFSC merely as a registration destination and develop it into a full-fledged global leasing hub where transactions are originated, structured, executed and managed.

Referring to the March 2026 consultation paper of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), he noted that several leasing activities at GIFT City still rely on offshore ownership, financing and structuring. “We must try to change this and scale GIFT IFSC as a true global leasing hub,” he said. Calling aircraft leasing and financing “the most profitable segment in the aviation value chain”, Naidu also said the govt is simultaneously building broader infrastructure capacity for the sector. “More than Rs 29,000 crore has been committed towards developing 100 airports and 200 helipads over the next decade.”

Highlighting the rapid expansion of the aviation sector, Naidu said India’s commercial fleet is expected to reach 1,100 aircraft by 2027 and further expand to 2,250 aircraft by 2032, positioning the country as the world’s third-largest civil aviation market. According to the minister, reforms introduced by the Centre have begun yielding results, with GIFT IFSC now housing 38 registered aircraft lessors as of December 2025.

Naidu also announced that seaplane operations are expected to commence in Lakshadweep either later this month or next month, creating fresh opportunities in seaplane leasing. The minister said the govt is working to deepen aviation financing in India, including expanding rupee-denominated financing. “We want much greater participation from domestic financial institutions as full partners in aviation finance and not merely on the periphery,” he said.

He added that the Centre is pursuing legal and tax reforms, stronger dispute-resolution mechanisms, and institutional support systems at GIFT City to align India with leading global aviation financing jurisdictions. Further, he said the recent Union Budget had extended the tax horizon for IFSC leasing structures, offering long-term policy predictability to international investors looking to deploy capital in India’s aviation sector.