The Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Birender Singh, has said that India is committed to supporting Ghana to develop a strong and formidable aviation sector.

The two discussed ways India as a forerunner in aviation could help Ghana to grow its aviation sector.

Mr Singh made these known when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Aviation, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, at his office in Accra last Wednesday.

Singh said Ghana and India had a long-standing relationship which should provide an easy path for both countries to work as development partners in various sectors of their economies.

He said India had made remarkable strides in the aviation industry and was prepared to assist Ghana to replicate the processes India took to achieve success.

Mr Adda expressed his delight in India’s preparedness to lend a helping hand to the Aviation Ministry to grow the aviation sector in Ghana.

He highlighted some key concerns of the aviation sector in Ghana, including the dearth of training of personnel at the airports on equipment handling and for collaboration in that area. 

 “The Ghana Ministry of Aviation would be glad to liaise with the government of India to extend scholarships to aviation students from Ghana to broaden their knowledge base and practical skills in airport and aircraft handling.

He said his ministry was ready to work with investors from India on the best ways they could work as partners to grow the aviation sector in Ghana.

Mr Adda further said the Ministry of Aviation was committed to ensuring that airports in the country moved away from electric power to solar-powered energy as a new source of energy.

He said the decision to move to solar power was because of the high cost of electricity at the various airports in the country.

In consequence, he called for support from India which had made strides in the use of solar energy as a source of electricity for some of her airports.

The Aviation Minister said he would pay a working visit to India to get first-hand information and also inspect some aviation infrastructure as part of efforts to know how to fit their system into Ghana’s aviation structure.

He said a proposal would be submitted to the India government on the various assistance requests discussed.