Rajya Sabha Debates Aircraft Objects Bill: Implications for Aviation

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) India's civil aviation sector needs to be in sync with the International Civil Aviation Organization to grow, Nationalist Congress Party MP Praful Patel said on Friday as the Rajya Sabha took up The Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2025 for discussions.

The Bill was introduced in the Upper House on February 10 this year.

Patel, a former civil aviation minister under the previous UPA government, said the Bill aligns the Indian law with international aviation standards.

"We as a nation should be proud that gone are the days that we were looked at as a nation of bullock carts, elephants and mahout. Today, for a large population, civil aviation has become a mainstay of transport," Patel said, adding that India is the third largest domestic civil aviation market in the world.

The NCP leader said the International Civil Aviation Organisation is the apex body controlling civil aviation everywhere, and the Cape Town conventions came out of many civil disputes that arose over the years.

"Almost 85 per cent of aircraft used by airlines in India are leased. The lessor needs security that the lease rental will be given, and the contractual obligations to maintain the aircraft will be met," he said.

Cape Town convention endorsed that lease conditions should be met else the asset should be repositioned with the lessor immediately, he said.

"This act is welcome. If the civil aviation sector in India has to grow, it has to be in sync with ICAO," he said.

Initiating the debate, Congress MP Neeraj Dangi said it is not the first attempt to make a law like this, and expressed concerns over privatisation of airports.

"Airports are being privatised overlooking the recommendations of the finance ministry and Niti Ayog that a company should not be given the contract for more than two airports," he said.

Dangi said the Adani Group was given six airports, and rules were relaxed for that, to which Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said he may need to authenticate the information.

"Government has found a new way, they first show operational losses at airports, and then the airports are sold to their corporate friends for cheap. This is a new kind of corruption," he said.

Chairman Dhankhar said the MP must authenticate the information.

"You have used the word 'friend'. Why should we as MPs use expressions which are unnecessary and (cast) aspersions? You have made a serious allegation... This is not approved," Dhankhar said.

The Bill seeks to give legal effect to certain international agreements in their application to India, which includes Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (also known as Capetown Convention of 2001), and Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Aircraft Equipment. India had acceded to these in 2008.

The convention and the protocol aim to bring uniformity in securing rights for high-value assets such as aircraft, helicopters, and engines.

In cases of default, it gives creditors certain remedies including the right to take back possession of the asset within two months or a mutually agreed upon period, whichever is earlier.

The Bill states that before exercising any remedy, the creditor must notify the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about the occurrence of default.