New Delhi: India on Monday for the first time saw a turboprop aircraft of a non-operational airline being converted into a seaplane by installing floats and conducting a test flight. The aircraft, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, conducted a test (maintenance) flight to and from the Ganga Barrage at Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Once approved, the aircraft, which now belongs to Avani Singh-led Skyhop Aviation, will operate in Andaman and Nicobar after the airline gets a license from the DGCA.The aircraft belonged to the former Fly Big airline, which had stopped flying some time ago. After emphasizing on seaplane service in this budget, Union Aviation Secretary Sameer Sinha asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to certify the conversion of this aircraft into a seaplane by getting it floated. Accordingly, after the aircraft was modified in India and floated here, the DGCA issued a Certificate of Airworthiness to the aircraft, and approved its operating procedure.The aircraft had its first test flight in Uttarakhand on Monday – not over the Tehri Dam as originally planned but from the Ganga Barrage. If everything goes according to plan, it will soon take off in Andaman. The government is keen to launch seaplane services on a large scale in India.This is the first time that an aircraft converted/modified as a seaplane has flown in the skies in India. In the past, seaplanes would come to India as seaplanes and then fly here with a mixed record of continuing operations on a sustained basis.In this Budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said: “To enhance last mile and remote connectivity and to promote tourism, I propose to incentivize indigenous manufacturing of seaplanes. A Seaplane Viability Gap Financing Scheme will also be launched to provide support for operations. The recently revised UDAN scheme also plans to provide more seaplane services.SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh’s daughter Avni Singh’s Skyhop Aviation may be one of the first companies to restart seaplane services in the country. It plans to use three of the four de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft from predecessor Fly Big airline. De Havilland has floats for these amphibious aircraft so they can take off and land on water. The remaining two are expected to be floated within two months.SpiceJet had briefly started seaplane services in Gujarat a few years ago, but could not sustain it. This time, officials hope things will be different with a renewed government focus on the service.