INDIA CLEARS AIRCRAFT OBJECTS BILL 2025

The much talked about and anticipated “The Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2025, was passed by the Govt. of India at the Parliament on April 3d 2025. The Bill was introduced by the Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu in Lok Sabha and was successfully passed, following its earlier acceptance in the Rajya Sabha. With both Houses having cleared the legislation, this marks the second major aviation reform passed in the tenure of Ram Mohan Naidu.

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The bill aims to align India's aircraft leasing and financing ecosystem with global standards and marks a critical step in deepening investor confidence in India's rapidly growing aviation market. The Bill builds on the framework of the Cape Town Convention of 2001, which aimed to simplify and standardize international leasing agreements. India formally adopted this convention in 2008, but gaps in legal enforcement led to higher leasing costs—typically 8 to 10 per cent higher than other nations.

With this bill, India seeks to plug those gaps, providing legal certainty to aircraft financiers and reducing costs for Indian carriers. The Minister of Civil Aviation underlined the urgency behind the legislation and stated, “There was a vision behind this leap in civil aviation. There was a mission to fulfill that vision. And to make that mission possible, there was the guidance of our Hon'ble Prime Minister Modi ji. The kind of growth we are seeing today was made possible because of this leadership.”

He also illustrated this growth with concrete figures. “For almost 65 years—from Independence to 2014—the total number of passengers flying annually in India was 10 crore 38 lakh. In just the next 10 years, that number has more than doubled to 22 crore 81 lakh in 2024,” he said. “Similarly, the number of airports in India increased from 74 in 2014 to 159 in 2024, with two more ready to be launched soon” he highlighted.