Uttar Pradesh approves four heliports for HEMS operators

The government of Uttar Pradesh in northern India has approved heliport projects in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Agra and Mathura, with the aim of improving air ambulance provision in the state.

They will improve the accessibility of helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) aircraft in major metropolitan areas across Uttar Pradesh.

The state’s Principal Secretary for Tourism, Mukesh Meshram, explained that: “Uttar Pradesh is an emerging medical tourism destination, and it will also be a hub of wellness tourism in future. This will create a need for air ambulance connectivity. Keeping this in view, the government had recently decided to make a beginning with the approval of four helipads.”

Plans by the state government to further encourage the air ambulance sector’s growth are still in development, with one unnamed official involved with the process telling the Times of India that a ‘number of key questions need to be answered’.

The official explained that the issues in question which needed to be tackled ‘include interstate connectivity, availability of high-end transport vehicles, interdepartmental coordination and the creation of green corridors.’

Goa Police are considering the acquisition of a rescue and aerial support helicopter

Police in the southwestern state of Goa are also investigating the feasibility of acquiring a rescue helicopter, which would be used to provide aerial support and medical transport services.

According to Goa’s Director General of Police (DGP) Jaspal Singh, the aircraft would be used to assist road accident victims, enabling patients to be ‘immediately shifted to the hospital’ and potentially ‘saving precious lives’. He added that a helicopter would also be useful to ‘keep a watch over a large area’, providing the police with an ‘eye in the sky’.

The plans to acquire the aircraft are currently being scrutinized by senior police officials, with no official date currently known for when a helicopter would be in operation.

India’s air ambulance sector remains under-developed in many regions

Despite its large size and population, large parts of India are poorly covered by air ambulance services. In a statement in late March, Indian Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh noted that: “There are 49 air ambulances operating under aero medical transportation by 19 non-scheduled operators in the country.”

Singh highlighted that there was a significant disparity in coverage, with most operators being centered on the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi (39) and the state of Maharashtra (five). Elsewhere, the state of Kerala has two air ambulance operators, while the states of Odisha, West Bengal and Gujarat has one each.

However, government plans announced by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in December 2021 for the creation of 36 helipads along highways in Maharashtra, Telangana and Gujarat intended to improve access for HEMS operators, could stimulate new growth in the sector.