The Ministry of Civil Aviation is encouraging Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to enter aerospace manufacturing and become part of global supply chains as the country’s aviation sector prepares for strong growth over the coming decade.
Addressing the CII and Ministry of Civil Aviation’s VORTEX 2026 initiative, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu said India’s aerospace and defence market is projected to nearly double from more than USD 30 billion in 2025 to USD 61 billion by 2035.
India’s commercial aviation fleet is also expected to more than double to around 2,050 aircraft, creating substantial opportunities for domestic manufacturers to supply components and other products to the sector.
“We want to create Indian aerospace manufacturing where an electronics manufacturer can see an opportunity in avionics, where a precision engineering company can move into aerospace components,” Naidu said.
He cited the development of India’s auto-component and mobile phone manufacturing industries as examples of sectors whose growth could be replicated in aerospace manufacturing.
The Minister also highlighted the expansion of India’s MSME export base. MSME exports have tripled from around ₹4 lakh crore in 2021 to ₹12.4 lakh crore in 2025, while more than 1.73 lakh MSMEs are now directly engaged in exports.
Indian carriers currently have an order book of 1,640 aircraft, which, according to Naidu, would translate into an estimated requirement of 80 crore parts and components that need to be manufactured. Passenger traffic in India is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.9 per cent through 2035, which the Minister described as the fastest growth rate among major economies.
The opportunity extends beyond the domestic market. Airbus and Boeing together have orders for more than 15,000 commercial aircraft globally, creating another avenue for Indian companies to become suppliers to international aerospace manufacturing chains.
Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said India is already the world’s third-largest domestic aviation market. The number of operational airports has increased from 74 in 2014 to 166 at present, while India’s aircraft fleet has expanded from around 350 aircraft in 2014 to approximately 874.
More than 2,000 aircraft are expected to be added to the Indian fleet over the next two decades. Sinha said Indian MSMEs and startups are already supplying aircraft components worth more than USD 4 billion annually to global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), while the domestic aerospace manufacturing market could reach USD 10 billion over the next decade.
He stressed that MSMEs will need to strengthen their technology capabilities, quality systems, workforce skills and scale to meet the requirements of the aerospace industry.
Airports Authority of India Chairman Vipin Kumar said rising passenger traffic would create demand across several areas, including aircraft components, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), ground support equipment, navigation systems, airport technology and training.
Boeing India and South Asia President Salil Gupte said Boeing has around 300 Indian supplier partners, with MSMEs accounting for 25 per cent of its supplier base. “The question before us is not whether India can make aerospace products. That is already happening. The question is how quickly we can scale,” Gupte said.
VORTEX 2026 is aimed at bringing capable MSMEs from sectors outside aviation into the aerospace ecosystem and helping them understand the industry’s standards, requirements and business processes.