
Total registered and operational civil helicopters in India FY 2010-2020
Use of helicopters in India
Civil helicopters were mainly used in India for non-scheduled passenger services and there was minimal use for other applications such as hotline washing and casualty air evacuation. Pawan Hans Limited provided its copters for offshore operations. The company also provided copters to different administration services in the country.
In the southern city of Bengaluru, helicopters were used for shuttle service to travel within the city. Aviation authorities in India had incorporated different policies like the regional connectivity scheme, helicopter emergency medical services. Furthermore, the 2016 national civil aviation policy enabled regulatory support to the civil helicopter industry.
Leading users
Non-scheduled service providers were the largest owners of civil helicopters in India. As of March 2019, there were 52 of these across the country. Pawan Hans Limited, with 42 helicopters, making it the largest fleet nationwide. This was followed by Global Vectra Helicorp Limited. In addition to non-scheduled service providers, a small number of helicopters belonged to the private sector.