SRINAGAR: India currently has 3,327 active women pilots, with the number of licences issued to women rising sharply over the past four years as the government expands training capacity and strengthens the country’s pilot training ecosystem, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Responding to an unstarred question, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said 461 pilot licences were issued to women in 2025 compared to 243 in 2021, registering an increase of 89.71 per cent. The rise, he said, reflects measures taken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to encourage greater participation of women in pilot training and licensing.
The Minister said the government has focused on improving domestic training infrastructure to meet the increasing manpower requirements of the rapidly growing civil aviation sector. During 2025, Flying Training Organisations inducted 61 additional trainer aircraft, taking the total number of training aircraft in the country to 385.
He said several regulatory steps have also been taken to enhance the quality and efficiency of training. Civil Aviation Requirements and training manuals have been revised to standardise benchmarks and improve outcomes, while procedures have been streamlined to expedite approvals for Flying Training Organisations.
The Ministry has also approved a liberalised policy to improve the operational viability and capacity of training institutes and introduced a ranking framework to promote better performance and accountability among FTOs.
The Minister said these measures are intended to ensure adequate availability of trained pilots for the expanding aviation market while creating more opportunities for women to enter the profession.
