'India needs planes worth $86 bln in 20 yrs'

NEW DELHI: US aerospace giant Boeing on Monday revised up its estimate of the commercial aircraft India would need in the next two decades to 911 from 856, but added demand would be far below China's.   

The new order projection is worth more than 86 billion dollars, compared to a previous estimate of 72 billion dollars last year, said Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's senior vice president in India. "The increased projection is supported in part by robust economic growth, and increasing demand for domestic and international travel and ongoing efforts within airlines to reduce costs," a statement from Seattle-based Boeing said.   

"Our forecast for the Indian market is bullish," Keskar said adding that the company saw an average increase of 10 percent annually in air passenger traffic in the next two decades.   

According to Boeing, India's state-run and private carriers had placed orders for 141 aircraft worth more than 20 billion dollars in the past two years. But he said the pace of growth in India lagged its main Asian rival China. "The market (for Boeing in India) is not as big as China," Keskar said.   

Commenting on the 787 Dreamliner ordered by international flag carrier Air India, Keskar said Boeing's delivery plans remained on schedule. "Air India is scheduled to get its first Dreamliner by September 2008. We don't see any changes in the delivery date," he said. Besides air passenger traffic, Keskar said he saw potential for Boeing in India's freight and aircraft maintenance market as well.