Gujarat growth runway: Plane purchases spike

Gujarat's corporate honchos seem to be flying high, literally! Propelled by the increasing demand from corporate chieftains, government delegations, and high-profile politicians and to cater to leisure and religious tourism, aviation companies and corporates are procuring aircraft and helicopters.

Major corporations in Gujarat alone owned at least 19 aircraft and helicopters till December 2019.

The number has now grown to about 22 with three additions just this year.

The most recent case in point is AeroTrans, owned by Hester Biosciences' MD and CEO, Rajiv Gandhi, which procured a 4+1 seater Bell 505 helicopter on Sunday.

The market price of this helicopter is Rs 21 crore. The helicopter is widely used by Indonesian and Jamaican defence forces and by police departments of certain states in the US.