A parliamentary committee report, tabled just weeks before the devastating Air India crash in Ahmedabad, had flagged serious gaps in aviation safety funding, highlighting an "imbalance" in allocations to critical agencies tasked with security oversight and accident investigation.
The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, in its 375th report presented to the Rajya Sabha on 25 March 2025, said the budgetary allocation of ₹35 crore for security infrastructure and accident investigation was insufficient, especially considering India’s rapid expansion as the third-largest aviation market globally.
The crash of Air India Flight AI 171—a Boeing 787 Dreamliner en route to London that went down in a residential neighbourhood adjoining a medical college campus—claimed 274 lives, including five MBBS students on the ground, throwing a spotlight on the country’s aviation safety preparedness.
The committee noted that allocations to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) were poorly balanced. While the DGCA received ₹30 crore for 2025–26, AAIB and BCAS were allocated just ₹20 crore and ₹15 crore respectively.
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“The capital outlay for BE 2025–26 has a distinct imbalance in the allocation of funds across key aviation bodies,” the committee said.
It further warned that security and investigation resources have not kept pace with the boom in airport infrastructure, citing an increase from 74 airports in 2014 to 147 in 2022, with a target of 220 by 2024–25.
"It is imperative to assess whether these funds are adequate to strengthen security infrastructure and enhance investigative capabilities. As aviation expands to Tier II and III cities under the modified UDAN scheme, security infrastructure and capabilities must be extended proportionally," the report noted.
The committee also raised red flags about understaffing in aviation oversight bodies, pointing to vacancies of 53% in the DGCA, 35% in BCAS, and 17% in the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
“The allocation to the DGCA, which commands the largest share of ₹30 crore – nearly half of the total budget – must be carefully examined to ensure ‘efficiency and accountability’,” the panel stated.
The AAIB, now probing the Ahmedabad crash, has come under intense scrutiny following the disaster, with demands for enhanced funding and structural reforms to prevent future tragedies.
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