COUNTING CRORES – INDIA'S BUSINESS JET MARKET IS ABOUT TO BOOM

India's business aviation market holds strong untapped potential, with expectations of significant fleet expansion and broader market development by 2030

- By ALASDAIR WHYTE

ECONOMISTS SPEND A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT THE global productivity problem. There are so many easy wins. If only people could be bothered to notice them.

The US could free up millions of bartender hours simply by not asking white-haired grandparents for ID before serving them a Bud Light. The Indian subcontinent could free up trillions of keystrokes by revaluing their currencies. When you need to use crores (10 million units) or lakhs (1,00,000) you know something is wrong.

The numbers in India are already hard enough to comprehend. One in seven of people on the planet is Indian. Delhi alone has 32 million inhabitants.

There are also a lot of very rich people in the country. Altrata, a wealth data company, says that the country ranks 10th for people with more than INR249 crore or $30 million (you see my point) in assets. That is 11,865 people. Forbes says India has 284 billionaires, third behind the US and China.

But there are fewer than 200 business jets based there. That is correct. There were more aircraft in Teterboro yesterday than in the whole of India.

The market potential is ridiculous. But this is not new. India has been tomorrow’s market for years, with tomorrow never coming. But this could be about to change. “Change is happening,” said Colonel Sanjay Julka, CEO technical, Club One Air, speaking at the first Corporate Jet Investor India conference in March 2026 in New Dehi. “The market is growing now with a lot more growth to come.”