India to have up to 200 airports by 2040

India is expected to have 190-200 airports by 2040 as passenger traffic is expected to grow by six times to 1.1 billion. The civil aviation ministry released its ‘Vision 2040’ document, which highlights that the top 31 cities of the country will have two airports each. Construction of new airports will require around $40bn-$50bn of investment, excluding land acquisition cost. Second airports will still not be able to meet the burgeoning demand in high-traffic regions such as Delhi and Mumbai, according to the report. India became the seventh largest aviation market with 187 million passengers in 2017-18. It is expected to become the third largest by 2022, competing with the US for the second place.