Bengaluru: In order to make India a flying hub, as many as eight flying schools are being set up. 

They will come up in Belagavi and Kalburgi in Karnataka, Jalgaon in Maharashtra, Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and Lilabari in Assam.

It is to be noted that they will be coming up under the liberalised Flying Training Organisation (FTO) policy of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

What this also means and ensures is that those wishing to undergo training will not seek seats in foreign academies. 

According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, these five airports have been carefully chosen since they have minimal disruption due to weather issues and civil, military air traffic. This initiative will help the Indian flying training sector in becoming more self-sustaining under the Atmannirbhar Bharat initiative, as per a Swarajya report. 

A note on parameters: 

Swarajya adds that the parameters the bidders were to take note of were: familiarisation with aviation safety aspects, regulatory mechanisms, experience in the field of training pilots on manned aircraft, the availability of equipment, trainers, etc.

Furthermore, the AAI had also ensured to reduce rental to just Rs 15 lakh and scrapped airport royalty, only to make things more business-friendly.