National Air Sports Policy

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) announced the country’s first National Air Sports Policy (NASP 2022).

• It has been launched to improve the state of aero sports in India, with a vision to make India a hub for air sports in the world by 2030.
• It aims to provide a safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable air sports ecosystem in India.

Highlights of the Policy

• Four-tier governance structure: The air sports in India will be under a four-tier governance structure. This includes: 1) Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) as the apex governing body, 2) National associations for individual air sports or a set of air sports, 3) Regional or state and union territory level units of the national air sports associations and 4) District-level air sports associations.
• About ASFI: The ASFI will be an autonomous body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and will represent India at the Lausanne-headquartered Fédération Aéronaautique Internationale (FAI) and other global platforms related to air sports. It will be chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• Functions: It will provide governance over various aspects of air sports, including regulation, certification, competitions, awards and penalties, etc.
• Rules and Functions of Each air sports association: Lay down its safety standards for equipment, infrastructure, personnel and training, and specify the disciplinary actions to be taken in case of non-compliance. Inability to do so may lead to penal action by the ASFI.
• Coverage: It will cover 13 air sports activities like aerobatics, aero-modelling, amateur-built and experimental aircraft, ballooning, drones, gliding, hang gliding, paragliding, microlighting, paramotoring, skydiving, and vintage aircraft.

 Significance of the Policy:

• Besides the revenue from air sports activities, multiplier benefits in terms of growth in travel, tourism, infrastructure and local employment, especially in hilly areas of the country, are much greater.
• Creating air sports hubs across the country will bring in air sports professionals and tourists from across the world.

Need for:

The aerosports industry has expressed its displeasure that the government was not doing enough to encourage aero sports in the country despite the fact that there is a tremendous potential in the country keeping in view the diverse scenic locales.

• Aerosports create significant opportunities for growth of tourism, employment generation and interest in aviation activities.
• A growth-oriented NASP may help attract investments in latest aerosports technology, infrastructure and best practices.