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Last year, the business jet market in India reached $692.3 million, and within the next decade, is expected to reach $1.2 billion which equals a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.18%. This growth will likely be led by a growing cohort of wealthy businesspeople resorting to charter services.For a nation with 229 billionaires per Forbes and 11,865 people holding $30 million or more in assets per wealth-data firm Altrata, having fewer than 200 registered business jets is an anomaly. One of the likely reasons is because importing a private aircraft to India, in the words of a JetSetGo executive, is "time consuming, tedious and challenging". A couple of years ago, India was considering axing the 2.5 percent import tax on non-scheduled operators bringing commercial jets to the nation. However, the Union Budget for 2026-27 led to only "components and parts required for the manufacture of civilian, training and other aircrafts" being exempt from basic customs duty, alongside "raw materials imported for manufacture of parts of aircraft to be used in maintenance, repair, or overhaul [MRO] requirements by units in the defense sector" according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.The changes would have been a makeover for Indian business aviationIndia's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issues a Non-Scheduled Operators Permit (NSOP) for all Indian operators running on-demand charter flights. Business jets operating under NSOP still adhere to the Basic Customs Duty that was introduced in 2007:a 2.5% Basic Customs Dutya 10% Social Welfare Surcharge calculated on that dutya 5% Integrated Goods and Services Tax. Aircraft imported for purely private use face a steeper bill: 3% Basic Customs Duty, the same 10% surcharge, 28% Integrated Goods and Services Tax, and 3% Compensation Cess. The difference in GST is stark: 5% for NSOP versus 28% + 3% (totaling 31 per cent), for private use.If the Indian government were to scrap the charge for NSOP aircraft, it would remove one of the clearest cost gaps between flying a jet commercially and flying a scheduled airline route. Before the general election took place in India between April and June 2024, industry insiders believed that a new government would be able to close that cost gap, which had led to India's number of non-scheduled operators hovering between 100 and 120 between 2009-2024.The tax gap also leads to Indian companies wanting to use jets for both business and private trips often registering it overseas rather than pay India's private-use rates. The operators would then fly the jets into the country as needed, with the expenditure on maintenance, crew, and hangarage outside India. The DGCA has tightened its rules since 2018 to curb such practices.Pre-owned jets dominate what actually gets importedAccording to JetHQ, India's fixed-wing business aircraft fleet stood at roughly 315 jets and turboprops as of April 2026, alongside 274 helicopters. One of the reasons why over 80% of fixed-wing imports into India are pre-owned is the fact that acquisition costs in India are 40% to 60% below those for comparable new. According to Sanjeev Choudhary, vice president of sales for India at JetHQ, an acquisition of a pre-owned aircraft is "typically completed within 2-3 months, compared to extended delivery timelines for new aircraft", giving another reason for the Indian market to be dominated with pre-owned aircraft. Besides, many newer aircraft models still lack type certification in India, so buyers gravitate toward platforms with an established maintenance ecosystem and trained crews already in the country. Finally, a steep early-year depreciation on new jets adds another reason to buy used. According to IMARC Group, India's business jet market expanded from $513.0 million in 2020 to $692.3 million in 2025. The same source also revealed that light jets "lead the type segmentation at 44.8% share" but the large jet segment is growing fastest at an estimated 7.5% CAGR through 2034. This was corroborated by Chaudhary, who said that demand within India's charter fleet had moved toward larger aircraft over the past two years.According to Choudhary, the specific types drawing interest, included:Bombardier Challenger 650 and 605 seriesEmbraer Legacy 650 series jetsMid-size jets in the 2,000 to 2,700 nautical mile range Financing reforms, FBOs and aircraft as an infrastructure assetAt a time when the current geopolitical situation is affecting the Gulf nations, which have established themselves as powerhouses in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hubs, operators are likely to look for options beyond the Middle East. And this is where India can cash in. The Indian government has already reduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on MRO services from 18% to 5% (with input tax credit) to bolster its position.One other area that India needs to focus on is the fixed base operator (FBO). India's FBOs are concentrated in four cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur and Kochi. Kanika Tekriwal, the founder of the largest operator of private jets and helicopter fleets in India, who was quoted in The Core, believes that there is "a shortfall of FBO's at smaller city airports" in India. Earlier this year, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that the government was also exploring options about how it could "create aircraft as an infrastructure asset". That status would put aviation on India's priority sector lending list, necessitating banks to lend for the purchase of aircraft at lower interest rates. Whether this will materialize in 2027 as the Civil Minister hopes, remains to be seen.