The Union Budget has provided for a huge increase in allocation for state-owned Indian and Air India and public sector undertakings such as the Airports Authority of India, Pawan Hans Helicopters and Air India Charters Limited. The Union Finance Minister in his budget speech on Wednesday had proposed to cut tax on aviation turbine fuel for all types of small aircraft and imposed a three per cent duty on private import of planes.

Accoringly, the total allocation for all PSEs under the Civil Aviation Ministry will go up from Rs 2,256.36 crore to Rs. 12,192.09 crore. Significantly, a sizable amount would go to Indian, Air India and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Charters Ltd. This is expected to help the national carriers in their fleet acquisition plans , said sources.

The FM has set aside for Air India revised estimates from Rs 490.84 crore to Rs. 6,337.01 crore. Meanwhile, the allocation for Indian has gone up from Rs 350 crore to Rs 2,507.70 crore and that of Air India Charters saw a 10 fold increase from Rs. 70.70 crore to 1,124.47 crore.

While the Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited got an increase in outlay from Rs 180 crore to Rs 246.5 crore, the AAI would saw rise from Rs 1,149.82 crore to Rs 1,961.41 crore, said a report.

These apart, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gets a significant raise in its outlay from Rs 39.6 crore to Rs 108.86 crore, while that of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security was more than doubled from Rs. 7.08 crore to Rs. 18.43 crore, the report added.