India on course for 8% plus growth, claims Jaitley

Agencies

February 1, 2018

New Delhi, Feb 1: India is firmly on course to achieving over 8 per cent growth and becoming the world's 5th largest economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.

It has achieved an average growth of 7.5 per cent in the first three years of the Modi government, he said.

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth of 6.3 per cent in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal signalled turnaround of the economy, Jaitley said while presenting the Union Budget 2018-19 in the Lok Sabha.

The country is expected to grow at 7.2 to 7.5 per cent in the second half of the current fiscal, ending March 31.

Manufacturing sector, he said, is back on good growth path and the services, mainstay of India's growth, have also resumed their high growth rates of 8 per cent plus. Also, exports are expected to grow at 15 per cent in 2017-18.

"We are now firmly on course to achieve high growth of 8 per cent plus," Jaitley said in his one hour 50 minute speech.

He stressed that the Indian economy has performed very well since the NDA government took over in May 2014.

"Indian economy is now USD 2.5 trillion economy seventh largest in the world, he said.

"India is expected to become the fifth largest economy very soon," he added.

On Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis, India is already the third largest economy.

As per the estimates of Central Statistics Office (CSO), Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal.

For 2018-19, the economy is likely to grow at 7-7.5 per cent as per the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament earlier this week.

GDP growth in first quarter of 2017-18 had moderated to 5.7 per cent, the lowest in the three years, before recovering to 6.3 per cent in the following three months.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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