J R D TataImage Credit source: Tata.Com
We all have heard this story that JRD Tata of Tata Group was himself a pilot. He also got India’s first pilot license. He also gave the first airline Air India to the country. But do you know that from the birth of Air India to the development of the aviation market in India, there is a connection with the Second World War.
If World War II had not been fought during that period, there would have been neither Air India nor aviation market in India and we would have been left behind in this era of modernity. Let’s know this story…
Second World War and Aviation Sector of India
Before independence, civil aviation did not hold any special importance in India. But it was a big army hub during the British Raj. That’s why the Indian Air Force started making its impact by 1933. Then the time came for the Second World War, it rapidly expanded the Military Airforce in India. Many airstrips and small aerodromes were built in the country. Their number had reached 100 in that period. This expansion of the Indian Air Force laid the foundation of India’s aviation sector.
1957 :: PM Jawaharlal Nehru Climbing Into The Cockpit of First Mystere Fighter Aircraft Purchased by India From French Company Dassault Aviation pic.twitter.com/5U1C2EvC3w
— indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) July 3, 2021
It so happened that when the Second World War ended, a large number of these aerodromes, cheap aircraft and trained crew members remained in India. It worked as an extension of civil aviation for India. At the same time Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s government nationalized the aviation sector, which made Air India a government company, and also set up the Indian National Airways.
Air Corporation Act brought by Nehru
Ashiq Ahmed Iqbal, Professor of History at Kriya University of Andhra Pradesh, also discusses Prime Minister Nehru’s Air Corporation Act in his book ‘The Airplane and Making of Modern India’. Due to this law that came in the year 1953, Air India came out of the hands of the Tata Group and came into the hands of the government. Although its command remained with JRD Tata for a long time, and recently it has once again reached the Tata Group.
Due to this law of Nehru, national air transport could be developed in the country. Air India started running on international routes, then Indian Airlines was formed for domestic routes. At the same time, different princely states and big industrial houses of India also formed their own airlines. Like Birla Group made ‘Bharat Airways’. Biju Patnaik established ‘Kalinga Airlines’.
In fact, the way the princely states and princely states developed their private railway lines during the British Raj itself. Similarly, the development of airways was also done. States like Hyderabad, Mysuru, Jodhpur, Bhopal and Kashmir built their own aerodromes. During the Second World War, it came in handy for the British Government.
At that time this investment was made to get into the good book of the British. But in the end, when the country got independence, it came in handy for civil aviation. Even today, the foundation of the Jodhpur and Bangalore airports is linked to the aerodrome of this heritage.
Source: www.tv9hindi.com
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