India issued 1,331 commercial pilot licences in the first half of 2026, just 16 fewer than the 1,347 issued in all of 2024 and about 81% of the 1,652 issued in 2025. Of these 1,331 licences, 540 (40.6%) were granted to foreign-trained cadets. The share of foreign-trained cadets was nearly the same in 2021, hence registering no change, Moneycontrol reported.